Bionic
by Crawler
Summary: Severely AU. In the future, scientists have found a way to manufacture humans. These are called Bionics. 12 Bionics escaped the labs, blended into the human world, and were hunted. Many died. But their legacy lives on... their children survived.
1. Introduction

This story is purely for my own amusement. I am testing an idea I had. It is extremely AU, and will focus primarily on the younger generation of Go players, as well as some of the Haze Go Club members. I have tweaked ages of a few of the characters so they can fit with details of this world.

Saeki, Ashiwara, Kurata - 6 years older than Shindou

Isumi - 4 years older than Shindou

Ko Yong-Ha, Kaga, Tsutsui - 2 years older than Shindou

Waya - 1 year older than Shindou

Shindou, Touya, Mitani - Shindou's age

Hong Su-Yeong - 1 year younger than Shindou

This story will be dark. It will be long. None of these boys will have easy lives. There will be superhuman abilities, government plots, mpreg, and homosexual relationships. Details are still sketchy at this point.

I am not asking you to read this. I am not asking you to review (although I'd like it). Again, I am writing this to satisfy my own morbid curiosity, and I am putting it in a public place like this so others can read it if they so choose.

Most importantly, I do not own the main characters/personalities that will be driving this story. I am merely placing them in a world of my own creation, and watching what they do in response.

The basic premise for this story is that it takes place in the future… yet things still look pretty similar to what's around right now. The world has divided into several large superpowers, including America (which now consists of both North and South America, as well as a good portion of Australia), EU (all of Europe, most of Russia), Africa (the entire African continent as well as the Middle East and India), and Neo-Orient (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, eastern Russia, and various other countries in that area). This story is only really concerned with the Neo-Orient, where the government is enormous, invasive, and run by a handful of elite people. Taxes are high, food supply worldwide is rapidly dwindling, pollution messed up a lot of the world, and the human population is beginning to crumble.

I think that's all you really need to know to get started. This chapter is a collection of excerpts to further setup the world. Currency conversions into US dollars are at the end of the chapter.

**_

* * *

_**

Bionic

* * *

"…Our forefathers set up the walls of this nation, ignoring the crumbling foundation. Our ancestors established the government that now dooms us to failure. Our ancestors did not look ahead to our generations. It is no longer our ancestors' places to govern these lands. This is our time! We must correct the mistakes of our ancestors!..." (rousing cheers)

Excerpt from speech by Emperor Wong Mitsu as China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan came together to form the superpower Neo-Orient in 2148

"…To ensure a healthy race of Neo-Orientals, a mandatory physical regimen will be established for children between the ages of four and eighteen. All children are required to participate, unless a genuine disability, verified by three government officials, inhibits the child's ability to participate. This regimen is designed to encourage healthy lifestyles in children and prevent obesity, among other sedentary lifestyle diseases…"

Excerpt from report by the Neo-Orient Committee of Health and Wellness in 2197

"… and in response to the declining population of Neo-Orient, a fund has been set aside for mothers. Upon the successful delivery of a healthy, live child, the mother shall be paid ¥20,000, with an additional ¥10,000 for each additional child in the birth up to and including the ninth. Therefore, a single birth would be rewarded with ¥20,000, twins would be rewarded with ¥30,000, triplets with ¥40,000, and nine children will be rewarded with ¥100,000…"

Excerpt from speech by Emperor Jaoling Kota, establishing the Birth Fund in Neo-Orient in 2203

"… three new orphanages will be opened in the city of Tokyo by the end of the year, bringing total capacity for orphans in Tokyo up to 48,000 children. At the age of 18, if not adopted, children are removed from the orphanage program and given ¥50,000 to begin their adult lives. New laws allow harsher punishments for Birth Fund violators – i.e. women who give birth, collect the Birth Fund, and then abandon/kill/disown their children…"

Excerpt from speech by the Minister of Tokyo, Honda Ruri, in 2213.

"… The Bionics are dangerous, but they are also expensive government projects. Try to do as little damage as possible when capturing them, but if need be, do not hesitate to kill them. It is far better to lose twelve Bionics then to let them run loose among humans. Above all else, _do not inform anyone else about the true nature of the Bionics. _The general public is not yet ready to know."

Excerpt from briefing to a special police force assigned to round up twelve escaped Bionics – manufactured superhuman beings – in 2213

"I am entrusting you with the care of my son, Isumi Shinichirou. I fear for his safety if he remains by my side, for his father has been stalking me and made many threats on my child's life. Since I am relinquishing the responsibility of raising my child, I have also enclosed the Birth Fund of ¥20,000. Please make sure Shinichirou knows his mother loves him, and only gave him away for his own safety. Please also make sure that he is aware that it would be dangerous to try to contact his father or myself once he is older. I hope he can have a good, safe life within your walls. I hope he can find a loving family who will care for him.

Isumi"

Note enclosed with 3-month-old baby boy on doorstep of St. Mark's Orphanage, in Tokyo, in 2216

* * *

The story has been amended, Yashiro will no longer show up. I am sorry if this disappoints anyone.

¥10,000 $92.81

¥20,000 $185.61

¥50,000 $464.04

¥100,000 $928.07

Crawler


	2. The Twelve Meet

This is the actual first chapter of _Bionic_. It's long, but it really sets up what's going on with the boys better than the first chapter.

And Sai's in it.

For clarification purposes: St. Mark's Orphanage was built in 2160. The orphan population kept rising, and another orphanage, St. John's House for Boys, was built across the street in 2210. Boys 13 years old and younger go to St. John's, boys 14 and older go to St. Mark's. The complex is called St. John's/Mark's, or just John and Mark. All boys go to class at St. John's every day except Sunday. There is a headmaster for St. John's and a separate one for St. Mark's, but the St. Mark's one is really the guy in charge of the entire complex.

Flashbacks are not told to the officer, and occasionally not even known by the headmaster.

This chapter is much darker than the last. Be warned.

**_

* * *

_**

Bionic – The Twelve Meet

* * *

"Thank you, Officer, for coming."

Officer Jeb Bartlett of the Tokyo Police merely nodded his head, opening the fat folder the headmaster of St. Mark's Orphanage had just handed him. "These are the files of the missing boys?"

"Yes, all twelve of them – five from St. John's, seven from St. Mark's. We think they snuck off together."

Bartlett sighed to himself as he began flipping through the files, scanning each one. The station received a call from St. Mark's headmaster earlier this morning, reporting twelve boys from this orphanage and St. Mark's brother orphanage for younger boys, St. John's, which was conveniently located just across the street. Both he and the headmaster knew that the police would not put too much effort into finding the missing children – Neo-Orient had too many orphans. Twelve empty spots in the St. John's/Mark's complex would be a godsend for twelve boys who wouldn't run away from a roof over their heads and three solid meals a day.

Bartlett was only concerned with a few choice details from each boy's file. He studied the pictures attached to the papers and read up on the missing children.

**

* * *

Name: Ashiwara Hiroyuki**

**Age:** 17

**Birthday:** November 7, 2215

**Hair Color:** Brown

**Eye Color:** Grey

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Ashiwara was found on the streets in 2217 by a police officer, having been recently dumped by his mother. His parents were unable to be located with the limited information Ashiwara provided. Ashiwara has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Isumi Shinichirou**

**Age:** 16

**Birthday:** April 18, 2216 (exact date unknown)

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Dark Blue

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Isumi Shinichirou was found on the doorstep of St. Mark's Orphanage in 2217. A note with him gave his name and claimed he would be in danger if he ever got in contact with his family. Isumi has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Saeki Kouji**

**Age:** 17

**Birthday:** March 3, 2215

**Hair Color:** Grey

**Eye Color:** Grey

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Saeki was found in 2220 under the backseat of a getaway car involved in five consecutive bank robberies. His parents were arrested and Saeki was taken from their custody and placed in St. John's. Saeki has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Kurata Atsushi**

**Age:** 17

**Birthday:** April 5, 2215

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Dark Dark Green

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Kurata was brought to St. John's/Mark's in 2221. His mother could not afford to continue raising Kurata. His father was serving time in prison. Kurata has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home

**

* * *

Name: Tsutsui Kimihiro**

**Age:** 14

**Birthday:** April 23, 2218

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Grey

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Tsutsui was brought to St. John's/Mark's after his parents died in the cholera epidemic of 2224. Tsutsui has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Kaga Tetsuo**

**Age:** 14

**Birthday:** January 8, 2218

**Hair Color:** Red

**Eye Color:** Brown

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Kaga was found on a beach in 2226, where he had been dumped by his father. He claimed he had been expecting it and calmly asked the police what he should do next. Kaga has been placed in three foster homes, but never stays for more than a week, due to his quick temper and tendency to solve things with his fists.

**

* * *

Name: Waya Yoshitaka**

**Age:** 13

**Birthday:** August 12, 2219

**Hair Color:** Brown

**Eye Color:** Gold

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Waya was found locked in a closet in 2226 after his teachers reported he had not been to school in two years. He had suffered physical abuse and starvation, and was thus taken from the care of his father, who was arrested. His mother is believed to be dead. Waya has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Mitani Yuuki**

**Age:** 12

**Birthday:** October 15, 2220

**Hair Color:** Red

**Eye Color:** Violet

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Mitani went to the police in 2227, claiming he had been sexually abused by his foster father. This was proven in court, and Mitani came to St. John's/Mark's while his foster father went to jail. His parents are dead. Mitani has been placed two times in foster homes, lasting two weeks each, but he becomes a terror when out of the orphanage, climbing walls and breaking anything he can get his hands on. His foster families did not want to keep such an unruly child, and returned him.

**

* * *

Name: Touya Akira**

**Age:** 12

**Birthday:** December 14, 2220

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Blue-green

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Touya's parents, including his famous go player father, were killed in a plane crash in 2228. Touya had been with a sitter at the time and was brought to St. John's/Mark's. Touya has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Shindou Hikaru**

**Age:** 12

**Birthday:** September 20, 2220

**Hair Color:** Black with blond bangs

**Eye Color:** Grey-green

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Shindou was found wandering in a park in 2230, marveling at things like the trees and the sky, and talking animatedly to an invisible friend he called "Sai." He was taken to St. John's/Mark's and was placed with a psychiatrist, yet he continues to claim Sai is real and he has no parents. The condition he was found in, however (clean clothes, not hungry), implies that he did have some form of caregiver before coming to St. John's/Mark's. Shindou has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Hong Su-Yeong**

**Age:** 11

**Birthday:** February 15, 2221

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Black

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Hong originally came from the Korean province. His parents were killed in a gang war in 2222, and he has been moving from orphanage to foster home to orphanage ever since. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a "brother," Ko Yong-Ha, also from the Korean province, who refuses to be placed without Hong. To this day, no family has been able to survive the combined presence of Hong and Ko, continually returning them. Hong arrived at St. John's/Mark's in 2232, and has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

**

* * *

Name: Ko Yong-Ha**

**Age:** 14

**Birthday:** December 22, 2217

**Hair Color:** Red

**Eye Color:** Brown

**Circumstances Surrounding Placement into St. John's/Mark's:** Ko originally came from the Korean province. His parents were killed in a gang war in 2221, and he has been moving from orphanage to foster home to orphanage ever since. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a "brother," Hong Su-Yeong, also from the Korean province, who refuses to be placed without Ko. Ko has a tendency to become arrogant and obnoxious if he feels threatened, leading to Hong and Ko being returned to orphanages. Ko arrived at St. John's/Mark's in 2232, and has been with St. John's/Mark's ever since – not one placement into a foster home.

* * *

Bartlett had carefully schooled his face into an impassive mask when he closed the folder. These weren't just any twelve boys – he knew most of them. He had been the officer to take most of them here.

He remembered 2-year-old Ashiwara sitting on a trash can, swinging his feet and waiting for a nice person to take him home, like his mother had told him.

He remembered searching Saeki's car and finding frightened gray eyes staring at him from under the backseat – and the subsequent screams and biting as Saeki tried to run back to his parents.

He remembered meeting an 8-year-old Kaga and swearing he was a teenager, especially with the way he coolly proclaimed there was no point in whining over the inevitable as he snapped his fan open and shut.

He remembered coaxing the skeletal Waya out of the closet he had spent two years in by waving food at him and calling him like a dog – and then the almost inhuman recovery the boy had made, going from beaten waif to (physically) healthy child in just three days of non-stop eating.

He remembered Mitani climbing into his patrol car, wearing nothing but a grubby blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and asking him to help keep Dake-san away from him.

He remembered Touya crying quietly, clutching a goban to his chest, knowing his parents were gone forever.

He remembered Shindou introducing him to "Sai" and being ecastic when he didn't immediately denounce him as crazy.

He remembered Hong and Ko, holding hands, Ko glaring at him, just _daring _him to try and hurt Hong – and then Ko's subsequent strings of insults in more languages than Bartlett could realize when Ko found out he and Hong would be going to different orphanages.

Bartlett knew these boys. He had grown fond of some of these boys – especially Ashiwara, who would always greet him with a hug and bright smile whenever Bartlett brought another boy by. He would do everything in his power to find where the kids went – and why they left.

"The file just holds basic information on the boys," the headmaster was saying. "Their medical files hold more information – current heights, weights, blood types – and then the caregivers of St. John's and St. Mark's know even more details."

"What sort of details?" Bartlett asked, glancing over at him.

"Well, more about their personalities. Like how Kaga holds a grudge against Touya – apparently they knew each other before they came here. Kaga's gone out of his way to make Touya's life miserable, and his gang helps him there."

"Kaga has a gang?"

"Just a very small one," the headmaster admitted. "Mitani and Tsutsui are his lackeys. They'll probably be together, wherever they are, and not with Touya."

_**Flashback**_

Mitani, age 8, slipped into a large, hollow tree. He crawled up to Kaga, who was already sitting there, leaning against the wall, and placed a light kiss on his lips before sitting next to him. "You all right?"

"Touya."

"Touya? He's the new kid, right? The one who keeps sniffling? What about him?"

"He plays go."

"And?"

"Shut up and let me finish, will ya?"

Mitani pouted as Kaga snapped at him, leaning over to kiss him again. "Sorry, sorry, you continue, O Great One."

"Shut up," Kaga repeated, but his voice wasn't as angry – at least not with Mitani. "I used to play go, met Touya at this kid's class."

"Didn't know you– ah, sorry." Mitani fell silent as Kaga glared at him.

"_As I was saying_, I met Touya at this kid's class. I was the best, until he showed up, and then no matter what I did, I couldn't ever beat him. Dad got mad at me, told me not to come back if I couldn't beat him. Touya overheard, asked me if I wanted him to lose, and then threw a match against me." Kaga leaned his head back. "Damn that kid, he was two years younger than me and already way above me. And he _knew _it, and it didn't matter to him whether or not he won these little games, because he got to play the best player _alive _EVERY SINGLE DAY, just because he was lucky enough to be born into the right family."

Mitani petted Kaga's arm, sensing that the story was over and he could talk now. "If it makes you feel any better, he's now on your turf." It was a known fact that nobody in St. John's messed with Kaga. Although Kaga was hardly the oldest at St. John's, only 10, when kids up to 13 lived there, and hardly the biggest, Isumi, at 12 and 5'5", was the tallest, and 13-almost-14 Kurata, weighing well over 120 lbs, was the largest, Kaga was undoubtedly the strongest, and he looked a lot older than he really was. Kaga had a tendency to land people who disagreed with him in the infirmary.

People quickly stopped disagreeing with him.

Kaga rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to clobber Touya. As much fun as that would be, Touya's a wimp, and probably got beat up all the time at his school. It won't be anything new for him."

"Then use this." Mitani tapped Kaga's forehead. "I know you're smart; you never study and get excellent grades. Play tricks on him. Prank him. Make him always looking over his shoulder for your shadow. Not direct physical violence.." Kaga turned to look at Mitani, and Mitani smirked. "Besides, he's been put in my room. Easy access to his bed, clothes, books, everything."

"Devious," Kaga said. "I like it."

Touya's shrieks were soon quite frequent, as he found toads in his bed, bugs in his clothes, mud shoved down the back of his shirt, worms in his food, etc. By the time Kaga threw him in the pool right before class started, Touya's shrieks had died out, and he just stared wide-eyed and skittish at everyone. Kaga considered it a great success, and he always put on a swagger whenever he passed the younger boy. Touya would cast his eyes to the ground when Kaga drew close, an unconscious acknowledgement of the other's superiority.

_**End Flashback**_

"What about Ashiwara?"

The headmaster shook his head, a frown on his face. "Ashiwara's become a delinquent, openly flaunting our rules and regulations."

Bartlett couldn't help but look surprised – that didn't sound like the Ashiwara he knew. "How?"

"He took a lover." The headmaster's frown deepened. "He and that Saeki Kouji. The two of them are always found kissing, groping, or stripping each other. Several times, caregivers have even walked in on them having sex."

Well. Ashiwara certainly had grown up from the little boy Bartlett had first met – but he couldn't say he was surprised that he and Saeki had developed a relationship. Bartlett kept his mouth closed.

The headmaster continued. "Their third friend, Kurata Atsushi, would _help _them find places to be alone, so we took him from their room and replaced him with Isumi Shinichirou. Isumi didn't do much to stop them from continuing their relationship either. We had to punish him."

_**Flashback**_

Isumi lay in his bed, back turned to the door and the other two beds in the room. He had his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep as he heard his roommates climbing out of bed. There were a few muffled whispers, a squeak, and then he felt them climbing onto his bed. "Thanks, Shin-chan," Saeki whispered as he eased the window open and helped Ashiwara climb out. "Such a dear, for not telling."

"Just don't wake me when you come back," Isumi replied.

Saeki grinned, invisible in the dark, and climbed down the side of the building after Ashiwara. Isumi reached up and closed the window, then curled up in bed again. Sleep did not come to him, however. He knew what would happen next.

Thirty minutes later, the bedroom door opened and closed. Heavy footsteps crossed the room toward Isumi, and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. His covers were pulled back and another body pressed against his back. "They left you alone again, didn't they?"

Isumi managed not to shudder at the sound of the headmaster's voice. He didn't respond. He only tensed when the older man wrapped his arms around Isumi, one hand resting on his chest, the other cupping his groin.

"Do you want this?"

Isumi remained quiet. Answering yes was obviously out of the question, and he feared that if he ever answered no, the headmaster would continue anyway, as a fitting punishment. He wouldn't put it past the man.

Lips brushed against the back of Isumi's neck. "Is this how you hold him?"

Isumi knew who the him was that the headmaster had mentioned. Waya, from St. John's. He loved Waya dearly, and Waya seemed to love him, but their relationship had never gone beyond cuddling. They hadn't even kissed, not once. Isumi thought Waya was way too young for any of that. The headmasters of St. Mark's and St. John's swore that Isumi had slept with Waya, and constantly tried to get a confession out of either boy. That was another reason Isumi hadn't ever kissed Waya – Waya was adorably clueless about sex. He had no idea what it entailed, only knowing that two people in love had sex, and sex with girls could lead to children. Isumi didn't want Waya to assume sex was just kissing and claim that yes, he and Isumi had slept together. He probably wasn't giving Waya enough credit there – the boy was clueless, not stupid – but he didn't want to risk it.

The headmaster moved his hands, sliding them under Isumi's pajamas and back to their former positions, except this time, there wasn't even a thin barrier of cloth to keep the man's hands from his skin. Isumi did shudder now, biting the inside of his cheek. _Just go away, please, leave me alone. _But he knew this was as far as the headmaster would go – probably. Once upon a time, the headmaster hadn't ever gone farther than just touching him through his pajamas. About a month ago, he began slipping his hands past the barrier of the cloth.

"Is this how you want to hold him? Like how Saeki and Ashiwara are undoubtedly holding each other now?" Another kiss to the back of his neck, then the older man shifted and kissed his cheek. "Tell me, Shin-chan. Tell me what I want to hear."

Isumi remained silent and unresponsive, his eyes and lips closed tightly, his body tense in the other's arms.

The headmaster growled slightly in frustration. He pulled his hands away, only to unbutton Isumi's pajama top and pull it off, followed soon by Isumi's pants. He grabbed the younger boy and roughly pulled him flush against his own older body. He grinned as Isumi took a shaky breath, obviously feeling the headmaster's erection pressing against his thigh. Other than that, however, Isumi still did not respond.

It was taking all of Isumi's self-control to not make a sound, to not pull away. This had never happened before. The headmaster's hands wandered over his body, pinching and rubbing. Isumi struggled to keep his breathing even as the headmaster pushed a knee between his legs. Was this it then? Was he about to be raped? Isumi bit harder on the inside of his cheek. _Saeki, Ashiwara, please, _please _come back. Please. Right now. Come back and stop him. Please! _He could feel the bed turning slightly mushy under his side, but he forced it to solidify again. He didn't know why, but when he was trying to get away from someone, he usually could go right through solid objects. He knew better than to show off this talent, however, as it might land him in a place worse than this. Besides, if he went through the bed, and the floor, he would only end up in the kitchen, naked, and would be easily caught. And punished.

The headmaster finally snarled his impatience and shoved Isumi away from him before he climbed out of the boy's bed. "You _will _talk." Isumi didn't move, not until the headmaster had stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Only then did Isumi slowly reach out for his pajamas, pulling them back on, and curling into a ball, hugging a pillow against his chest. He hated this, but every night Ashiwara and Saeki snuck out, the headmaster snuck in. He didn't know how to stop it, only knew that there was no one he could go to for help; the headmaster ruled everything in this orphanage. At least he hadn't raped him – yet. These meetings just left him feeling extremely filthy. Isumi prayed that Waya wasn't suffered the same thing across the street in St. John's.

**_End Flashback_**

"You would punish him for not stopping his older roommates from having sex?" Bartlett had met Isumi several times – Ashiwara seemed to have taken the younger boy under his wing. Isumi had struck Bartlett as the doormat type – he'd willingly let others walk all over him if it made them happy. He hardly seemed like the type of person who would stop anyone from having sex with someone they cared about.

The headmaster shrugged. "He didn't do what he had been placed in that room to do, and the punishments were never severe. Just a lecture or something, in an attempt to encourage him to actually stand up against them."

Bartlett flipped through the file again. "Shindou still sees Sai?"

The headmaster frowned. "Psychiatrists were unable to do anything. Shindou refused to cooperate, instead spending the entire time playing with "Sai." His favorite game seemed to be calling out a list of numbers, pausing between each pair, like this: "Upper 4-4. Lower 4-4. 3-4. 5-4." We could never find any pattern in his numbers."

**_Flashback_**

"Aww, no, Sai, you win again! I'll never beat you!" Hikaru slumped in his chair, crossing his arms and scowling at the air. His psychiatrist watched as a slight smile tugged at the boy's mouth. "Well, yeah, that is true, I _am _remembering all the moves now. I messed up at 16-2, didn't I? Should have gone one space higher – such an idiot! You've told me that several times before, I'm just never remembering it!"

"Um, Shindou, why don't you talk to me instead of the air." The psychiatrist tried to capture Hikaru's attention.

Hikaru stuck out his tongue. "Aww, you're just jealous cause you can't talk to Sai!"

"Shindou, it really isn't healthy for you to create alternate personalities-"

Hikaru jumped to his feet and slammed his hands on the psychiatrist's desk. "That's it! I've had it! I've been coming here for months, and all you've tried to do is tell me that it's not healthy to talk to Sai, because he doesn't exist. Well, you know what? I don't care! Talking to Sai isn't going to kill me, and he's a whole bunch nicer than the rest of you "caregivers" combined! I hate this place, and Sai's the only one who actually cares about me anymore! I'm leaving!"

"Shindou!"

Hikaru stalked toward the door, but it was locked. The psychiatrist tried to intercept him, but he just dodged his hands and ran for the window, pulling it open and jumping out. The psychiatrist was too big to follow him, and he collapsed back in his seat. He really hated working with Shindou, and Shindou hated working with him. Why couldn't they just call Shindou crazy and incurable, and leave it at that?

Sai tapped on Hikaru's shoulder. "Hikaru, that boy was listening to your conversation – and oh! Look what he drew in the dirt! A goban! Hikaru, let's play, let's play!"

Hikaru glanced over at the boy in question. Touya was trying to look invisible, pressed against the wall. He was also trying to erase the goban by tracing a stick over it – presumably the stick he used to draw it. "Hey, you don't have to do that."

Touya jumped and looked guiltily at Hikaru. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice quiet. "I shouldn't have listened…"

"Naw, it's all right. Me an' Sai were just playing a game." Hikaru went and sat on the other side of the goban from Touya. "Do you know how to play go?"

Touya's eyes lit up at the sound of his beloved game, and he nodded eagerly. "Father was a go pro, he was teaching me everything he knew!" His face fell, and he looked down at the 19x19 grid he had drawn in the dirt. "But then he died, and they took my goban, and won't let me become a pro."

"You any good?" Hikaru used his finger to redraw the goban where Touya had scuffed it out.

Touya nodded. "I'm really good – are you?"

Hikaru shrugged. "I'm pretty decent – Sai's amazing though."

"Sai?"

"He's my friend." Hikaru jerked his thumb over his shoulder at where Sai was sitting. "Oh, but you probably can't see him. Nobody else can – he's dead."

"You see ghosts?"

"Only Sai," Hikaru said. "Sometimes, when-"

"Hikaru!" Sai jabbed Hikaru in the side, his voice sharp. "You're not supposed to talk about that!"

"No, I only see Sai," Hikaru amended.

Touya frowned, but he really didn't care at this point. It had been two years since he had someone to play go with, it didn't matter if they were crazy or weird. "You can be X's – I want to measure your strength."

"Hikaruuuuu, I want to play! Let me play, Hikaru!" Sai wrapped his arms around Hikaru's neck, pleading with the boy.

"Hey, Sai wants to play instead, is that okay?"

Touya shrugged. "An opponent is an opponent. Sai can go first – X will be black, O will be white, since we don't have stones."

Hikaru grinned, and Sai settled back, a big grin on his face. "I get to play someone besides Hikaru!"

"Hey!"

"You're fun to play, Hikaru, but it's also nice to have other opponents," Sai informed him.

"Yeah, okay, fine. Where do you want to go?"

"4-4, hoshi!" Sai pointed with his fan, and Hikaru drew an X over the star point.

The game ended with Touya's resignation, but he had a smile on his face. "I never thought I'd ever get to play go against a strong player ever again! You were incredible!"

"Sai was incredible," Hikaru agreed.

Sai was sitting quietly, fan covering his mouth. He was watching Akira with a serious expression. Finally, he said, "Hikaru, ask him if he's related to Sato Kouyou, or knows him."

"_Sato Kouyou?_" Hikaru stared at Sai in astonishment. "But he's dead!"

"So is Touya's father," Sai said quietly. "Ask him."

"Touya, are you related to Sato Kouyou?" Hikaru asked. "Or do you know him?"

Touya thought for a minute, then shook his head slowly. "I don't know any Sato's… but my father's name was Touya Kouyou… and Ichikawa-san sometimes called him Dr. Sato…"

Sai's eyes widened. "Hikaru… this child, he's Sato's son! _He exists!_"

Hikaru's eyes were wide too. "Wow… hi! It's nice to meet you. I'm Shindou Hikaru. Wanna play some more go? You can play me this time…"

_**End Flashback**_

"What about Waya?" Bartlett tapped Waya's file. "Did he stay active, or did he show emotional distress?" Waya had been odd – he had been extremely withdrawn after being rescued from the closet, but the moment he set foot inside the orphanage, he changed into a loud, active, normal boy. Bartlett had theorized that it was a mask to keep the other kids from finding out what had happened, and guessed that it would fall apart eventually.

"He was always active," the headmaster said. "_Too _active. He became involved in a sexual relationship with Isumi."

Bartlett made a strangled noise, staring at the headmaster. "A sexual relationship? With _Isumi_? He's only thirteen!" He could see Waya getting along with Isumi, but having sex? And Isumi letting him? Well… Isumi might let him, with the whole doormat-ness.

The headmaster nodded. "Well, we don't have any proof – unlike Saeki and Ashiwara, nobody's walked in on them. But they do sneak off together, disappearing for long periods of time, and when they are seen, they're always together."

"That doesn't mean sex," Bartlett protested weakly.

"Officer Bartlett, I have watched over these boys for years. I know when they're sneaking off to have sex and when they aren't." The headmaster leaned forward, steepling his fingers by his chin. "They were having sex. They just never admit to it."

**_Flashback_**

Waya settled back against Isumi's chest, a happy smile on his face. He was nestled between Isumi's legs. Isumi lightly played his fingers over Waya's chest. "I love you, Isumi-san," Waya murmured, opening his eyes to look up at the older boy.

Isumi smiled back at Waya, lifting one hand to stroke Waya's cheek. "I love you too, Waya-kun." Waya shifted slightly, and Isumi tightened one arm around his waist. "Careful, we don't want to fall out."

The two boys were sitting a good fifteen feet off the ground on a branch of an ancient oak tree – the very tree with the hollow base that Kaga and his gang used as their hiding place. Isumi was leaning against the trunk, and Waya was leaning against Isumi. Their legs were stretched out in front of them along the branch.

"The headmaster tried to get me to say we've had sex again," Waya said, turning his head so his ear was against Isumi's chest and he could hear the steady heartbeat.

"What did you tell him?" Isumi asked quietly, stroking Waya's hair.

"I said, no, he was crazy to think that, and that Isumi-san hasn't even kissed me." Waya managed to sound both defiant and disappointed at the same time. "And it's true, you haven't." He pouted, crossing his arms slightly.

Isumi smiled sadly and reached up to tap Waya's protruding lower lip. "I just don't want them to hurt you."

"How can you kissing me make them hurt me?" Waya asked. He turned his face up to Isumi. "Just one kiss, please? I won't even tell them, I'll lie! I'll say you still haven't kissed me…"

Isumi sighed. "Waya-kun…"

Waya twisted in Isumi's arms so he was kneeling on the branch between Isumi's legs. He wrapped his arms around Isumi's neck and looked up at him with the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster. "Don't you love me, Isumi-san? I thought people in love were supposed to kiss each other…"

Isumi groaned slightly, resting his forehead against Waya's. "Those eyes will be the death of me."

"Hee…" Waya grinned at Isumi. "Are you going to kiss me?"

Isumi bit his lip. "And you won't tell them? You'll still say nothing's happened?"

Waya nodded. "Nothing happened, nothing is happening, and nothing will happen, because Isumi-san is a prude."

"I am not a prude!"

"You still haven't kissed-" Waya was cut off as Isumi kissed him.

The kiss really was closed-mouth and very chaste, but it was still Waya's first kiss. He didn't really know what to do now that Isumi actually was kissing him, so he settled on closing his eyes and trying to move his lips the way Isumi was. When Isumi pulled back after a time that seemed both too short and infinitely long, Waya whimpered slightly, opening his eyes to stare at Isumi.

Isumi had a blush on his cheeks and was smiling slightly. "Still a prude?"

Waya just leaned forward, hugging Isumi tightly and burying his face in the other boy's shoulder. "I love you!" he whispered fiercely.

Isumi hugged Waya back, lightly brushing a kiss against his hair. Although he had his misgivings about the kiss – Waya really was too young for a romantic relationship – he was very pleased with how happy the simple show of affection had made the other. "We probably should be getting back now." He couldn't deny that he had enjoyed the kiss himself. He wished it had gone farther, or happened again, but he had enjoyed it anyway, and if Waya continued to press against him like this, he might need to be giving Waya a sex ed. lesson. Isumi's blushed deepened at the thought, and he nudged Waya lightly. "Really, Waya-kun, we don't want them suspecting anything."

Waya finally pulled back a little and then placed a kiss to Isumi's cheek. "Yeah, okay," he sighed, before kissing Isumi's cheek again and jumping out of the tree.

Isumi brushed his fingers over his cheek before smiling and taking the safer path down – climbing through the branches the way they got up. He would never jump from the branch, and it had terrified him the first many times Waya had done so – but Waya rarely got hurt doing so. That scared Isumi more, sometimes, seeing Waya land in a bad way, swearing the younger boy broke an arm or leg, but when he got down to see if he was all right, Waya would be sitting up, rubbing the injured appendage were only a slight bruise showed. Waya did seem to get better at landing the more they did this, however, and he no longer even got those slight bruises. Isumi smiled and took his hand, and the two walked back to the orphanage together.

_**End Flashback**_

Bartlett sat back in his chair. "Is there anything else? Do you have any idea why they would want to run away?"

The headmaster shook his head, a sad look on his face. "I have no idea. Those twelve were some of our brightest boys at St. Mark's and St. John's. They were never mistreated, and only punished when they did something wrong, and then their punishments fit their crimes."

_**Flashback**_

The boys all filed back into the classroom, taking their seats after the lunch break. The headmaster stood at the front of the classroom, smacking a ruler into his hand. Touya, in the first row, jumped with every smack – loud noises frightened him. Other than Touya's reflexive jerks, the rest of the class was quiet and motionless. Somebody's in trouble.

"Kaga Tetsuo," the headmaster began, which wasn't surprising. Kaga was one of the frequent troublemakers. "_Gum _was found under your desk during lunch. You know gum isn't allowed in the classroom."

Kaga scowled. "Hey, I didn't do it."

"Kaga, you have been caught with gum no less than ten times in the past two weeks. Why should it be any different today?"

"Because I didn't have any gum today!" Kaga snapped. "I couldn't have put it there if I didn't have it!"

The headmaster flicked his ruler. "Take him to the room." Two of the "caregivers" of the school, huge, muscular men with names like Vince and Butch, stepped forward and set hands on Kaga's shoulders. Kaga looked up at them, calculating his best means of escape.

Several seats over, Mitani was finding the surface of his desk _very _interesting. _He _had placed the gum under Kaga's desk, but it had been meant as a joke. Kaga was supposed to stick his hand or knee in it. He wasn't supposed to be carted off to the punishment room!

Vince and Butch took Kaga from the room. The headmaster stepped aside, letting the normal teacher resume his position.

It took over an hour to take Kaga the short distance from the classroom to the punishment room – a small room in the basement with dim lights and dirt walls and floors. Kaga was very difficult to force to do anything. He kept hitting Vince and Butch, causing them to break their holds on him and allowing him to flee through the orphanage. They ended up needing six guys to bring Kaga to the room, where the headmaster had been waiting impatiently. "Strip him."

Although the clothes the boys wore were generally old and cheap, it still cost a lot of money to keep over sixty boys clothed. Rather than damaging or staining clothes during punishments, it was easier to strip them, discipline them naked, and then give them back their clothes.

Kaga's struggled as they pulled his clothes off. He felt hands touching him, slipping between his legs, and he kicked out, yelling at the men holding him.

"Thirty blows," the headmaster said. He settled back to watch as the naked boy was hit – three men each giving Kaga ten punches, kicks, or slaps, occasionally "accidentally" groping him.

Kaga kept struggling and screaming insults at them, but they didn't falter. He cursed at them every time he felt fingers ghosting across his groin, but he could never tell whether or not his attackers actually were groping him, or if it was just a combination of his struggles and they way the were hitting him.

Thirty blows later, Kaga was dropped to the ground, breathing heavily and aching all over. The headmaster tossed his clothes at the boy and left with the caregivers. Kaga winced as he pulled himself into a sitting position and began to get dressed again. This was hardly the first time he had been maybe groped while taking a beating.

Mitani was skulking around nearby when Kaga emerged from the punishment room. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaga growled, not even looking at Mitani. Did they purposely touch him? Was it some kind of fun for them? Did the headmaster get off on watching him beaten and groped? He wouldn't past the dirty old man.

"Kaga…"

"Fuck off, Mitani. I'm not in the mood right now." Kaga stalked past Mitani without even looking at the other.

Mitani watched Kaga go, deciding now was not the best time to confess to his crime.

**_End Flashback_**

"It makes no sense," the headmaster concluded. "They had the best possible life for young orphans here… there should have been no reason for them to even _want _to leave - unless they were adopted. But other than a family, nothing could be better than the life they'd have here."

**_Flashback_**

"What type of place is this?" Ko Yong-Ha stared at the schedule he was given. "I understand the classes from 8 until 3, but what is "Discipline Hour" from 3 to 4?"

"Scheduled beatings," Kaga replied. He, Ko Yong-Ha, and Tsutsui were all roommates in St. Mark's. The three were currently sitting on their beds, doing homework. "They line us all up and then randomly pick about thirty of us to be "Disciplined.""

Yong-Ha looked sickened by the very idea. Tsutsui spoke up quietly, "This is the place where the delinquent orphans are shunted to. Once you come here, you don't leave permanently until you're eighteen. The discipline is a way to keep a population of lawless males under the rule of the headmaster and other caregivers."

Yong-Ha scowled at his schedule. "But I'm not a delinquent!"

"Neither am I," Tsutsui answered. "And Kaga hasn't done anything really bad. And there are a handful of other boys between Mark and John that haven't broken any laws or rules either – but that doesn't matter. The majority is bad, therefore all are punished."

"Why don't the police do something?"

"Do what?" Kaga asked, with a harsh laugh. "We're the _lucky _ones, we have a roof over our heads and three square meals a day and clothes and education." He sneered. "The police turn a blind eye – it's hard enough to keep the sheer number of orphanages around here up and running. There's no need to question their methods of raising unwanted brats."

Yong-Ha looked down at the paper in his hands, before asking quietly, "Is there a Discipline Hour at St. John's too?" He envisioned Su-Yeong being beaten into submission and his blood boiled – nobody better touch his brother!

"Yeah, the Johnny boys and Mark's brothers all come together for classes at John's, and then Discipline Hour out back on the nice cobblestones – it's easier to clean the blood."

"Kaga, you don't need to add details."

"I just said blood, Tsutsui. Hardly gory. You see worse every day."

Yong-Ha crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at the wall. "I need to get out of here."

"Good luck." Kaga's voice was sarcastic. "If Mitani, Tsutsui, and I haven't managed to get out in the five years we've been here together, there's no way you're getting away."

"What if we worked together?"

"Tried it."

Yong-Ha fell silent, staring at his bed. "There has to be a way."

Kaga just shook his head, turning back to his work.

"How many non-delinquent boys are there between St. John's and St. Mark's?" Yong-Ha asked slowly.

Tsutsui frowned, thinking about it. "Kaga, Mitani, me, you… Isumi, Ashiwara, Saeki, Kurata… Waya, Touya-"

"Not Touya," Kaga muttered.

"He's not a delinquent!" Tsutsui protested. "And he's suffered enough, what with the plane crash and your tricks, and the beatings – he'll be in, no matter what."

Kaga scowled, but said no more.

"Anyway, there's Touya, and Shindou, and…"

"Su-Yeong," Yong-Ha added.

"And Su-Yeong. That's twelve."

Yong-Ha looked over at Kaga. "Have you ever tried breaking out with all twelve?"

"It would be even harder –"

"Not if we worked as a team." Yong-Ha turned back to Tsutsui. "Who's the best strategist of the twelve – Su-Yeong and I probably aren't."

"Probably Touya."

"Tsutsui's better, but he's too modest to say so."

"I am not. Touya is better at strategy."

"You are."

"Am not!"

"What does Touya look like?" Yong-Ha crossed his legs. "We'll have him and Tsutsui come up with a plan to get out, using all thirteen. It'll work. It must work. I won't let Su-Yeong get beaten."

"You two lovers or something?" Kaga asked.

"Brothers," Yong-Ha answered. Maybe not blood brothers, but close enough.

* * *

During the lunch break at school the next day, the twelve non-delinquents sat together. "So, you're in?" Yong-Ha asked.

"Yes!" Ashiwara chirped. "It'll be fun!"

Saeki rolled his eyes, pulling Ashiwara over to kiss him. "If Ash's in it, I'm in too." He then pulled Ashiwara into his lap fully, and the rest of the world was forgotten.

Isumi nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll help, however I can. I agree, we do need to get out."

Waya was nestled up against Isumi's arm. He nodded too. "I can help!"

Hikaru frowned. "I really don't see a problem here – other than the wacky psychiatrists, I never get in trouble."

"That's because the teachers are scared of you," Kaga said, reaching around Mitani to playfully shove Hikaru. "They all think you're some crazy psycho, and they don't want you killing them all in a fit of insanity."

"I want to get out," Touya said quietly, afraid of speaking around Kaga. "I want to play go."

"Then I'll help!" Hikaru draped an arm around Touya's shoulders. "Wherever you go, I shall follow!"

Touya smiled slightly, and Mitani gasped loudly and pointed. "Holy crap, Touya _smiled_! The world is coming to an end!"

Touya turned bright red and bowed his head. Hikaru glared at Mitani. "He would have smiled sooner if it hadn't been for you and Kaga!"

Mitani glared back. "Kaga and I didn't do anything to hurt the freak!"

"Yes you did!"

"No, we didn't!" The two had their foreheads pressed together as they argued, back and forth, back and forth.

Kurata finished his lunch and looked over at Yong-Ha. "Hey, sure, I'll help. Anyone not going to finish their food?" Isumi pushed the rest of his lunch to the large boy.

Yong-Ha looked over to Kaga. "Are you in?"

Kaga frowned, crossing his arms. "Well… I'm not saying this place doesn't suck, but I really don't see how successful an escape will be." He shrugged. "But hey, if you manage to pull it off, I'll look pretty foolish sitting behind these walls still. Yeah, Mitani, Tsutsui, and I, we'll all help you."

Yong-Ha smiled. "Excellent. We will get out."

"We'll need a way to discuss plans without them overhearing." Hikaru suddenly sat up straight again, causing Mitani to lose his balance. "If the teachers find out, we'll all be in trouble."

"Go," Touya said softly. "We can pretend we're talking about Go. Black moves here. Black escapes through here. Black attacks white here. I can teach you all the basics, and then we can pretend we're discussing games. That way we can even have diagrams with the stones."

Yong-Ha grinned at Touya. "That's perfect – and that's why you're one of our strategists. Su-Yeong and I already know how to play, anyone else?"

"Kaga and I know," Tsutsui said.

"I can play," Hikaru offered.

"I know the basics," Mitani said with a shrug.

"Everyone here knows at least the basics," Kurata informed Yong-Ha.

"And how did you know that?" Waya asked.

Kurata frowned. "Hmm. I don't know. Intuition, I guess. Was I wrong?" Nobody said anything. "Didn't think so. I'm never wrong with my intuition."

The bell rang, signaling class was about to start again, and the boys got up. "Not a word about this to anyone," Yong-Ha warned them.

"We're not stupid," Mitani retorted.

"We'll get out," Kurata said with a grin. "But first, we get to class."

_**End Flashback**_

Bartlett closed the file once more and looked at the headmaster. "Thank you for your time. We'll get right on this. I promise, I will do everything in my power to return these boys to their rightful home."

The headmaster rose with Bartlett. "Yes, thank you. Each boy here is like a son to me, I hope you find them."

Bartlett shook the headmaster's hand before leaving the room. He _would _find the boys. He would.

* * *

AN: I apologize for formatting problems, if there are any. I'm trying to figure out why hates me – I never used to have these problems before.

And thank you, K, for reviewing.

The story has been amended – Yashiro has been removed. I am sorry for any disappointment.

Crawler


	3. Flight

I apologize in advance for the length of this chapter and Hikaru's story… if it upsets you.

I will have you know that I am spoiling you – I highly doubt all my chapters will be as long as this one or the last one, and my updating will not necessarily be frequent. There shouldn't be _too _long of a wait between chapters, however.

What Sai says is in bold from now on. That way it sets it off, so you know that it's not something all the characters can hear.

To answer some questions posed by readers of this story:

No, Akari probably will not show up. She might have a cameo somewhere, but almost all of the main characters have shown themselves already. Kuwabara will have a semi-important (at this point) role, and Ichikawa (the lady behind the counter at the Touya's go salon) will have a semi-important (at this point) role.

Yes, there will be some romance in the story – but I could only choose two categories to put it in, and angst/supernatural describe the whole of the story better than romance. I plan on (at the very least) the following pairings: Kaga/Mitani, Hikaru/Akira, Waya/Isumi, and mild Saeki/Ashiwara. The characters may also have sexual relationships with other people, but those four pairings are the ones that will actually hopefully have semi-healthy, loving relationships.

The escape from the orphanage is not going to be in this chapter. If it's ever detailed, it will show up later, when one or more characters are recounting what happened. If that does happen, hopefully it's Ocean's 11ish. (I just didn't think I could do it justice at this point)

The orphanages are named St. John's and St. Mark's despite being in Japan because… I was lazy. hangs head in shame I didn't feel like looking up common names of orphanages in Japan, and so I just threw in two generic names and put St. in front of them. Let's just say Christianity peaked in the Neo-Orient era some time ago, and so these names became common, but then it dropped out, so the names were left, but there's no longer any meaning attached. I'm very sorry if my Western naming of the orphanages caused anyone grief.

And the headmasters are evil, cruel people, which is why I did not give them names. Feel free to kill them all you want… although I may pull them back in…

The events of this chapter actually take place the day before the last chapter. The headmasters waited at least 24 hours after noticing the boys were missing to call the police.

**_

* * *

_**

Bionic - _Flight_

- 

* * *

Their plan had been simple: Get out, then get to the closest Go Institute. There had been a few more details then that, but it captured the basic gist of things.

That explained why twelve boys huddled together in the rain across from the Institute one Monday morning, soaking wet and waiting for the building to open.

Kaga had been the one to bring up a huge flaw in their plans to escape. _"So we get out. Then what? We're still twelve orphans with no place to go, and no source of income."_

Hikaru had been the one to come up with a solution. _"We pool our money and let Touya take the pro exam. He's amazing – he'll be able to bring in enough money to support us all, if we tighten our belts and do odd jobs for a while. And Saeki, Ashiwara, and Kurata are almost eighteen, they'll be able to sign stuff."_

It had been a good plan. Or so they thought. Kurata was the only one who kept saying something felt off. "Look, guys… if the police come, we need to run. We can't be caught, under any circumstances. None. At all. That would be very very bad. Just trust me on this." The look on his face, one of complete seriousness with a hint of fear, was one none of the other eleven had ever seen.

"Why?" Mitani asked. "We snuck away from the orphanages. We didn't do anything bad."

Hikaru looked over at Kurata, meeting his gaze for a long moment. Without looking away, he said, "There's more to the story then you guys know."

**Hikaru!** Sai poked Hikaru. **You're not supposed to talk about that!**

"I think Kurata's one."

**That doesn't matter! Touya's most certainly one, but you're not supposed to tell him either!**

"One what?"

Hikaru shook his head. "It's not important… just do what he says. Police come, run away."

"Wouldn't that get us into more trouble?" Isumi questioned.

"No," Kurata answered. "It will probably save our lives."

Touya felt uneasy about all of this talk about running from the police. He looked across the street at the Go Institute. "Oh! It's open!"

The twelve boys darted across the street and into the building, then went over to the closest desk, and Touya stepped up. "Um, excuse me."

"Yes?" A middle-aged man with thick glasses peered down at Touya.

"I would like to sign up to take the pro exam, please," Touya said.

The man nodded, pulling out some forms. "Very well. What's your name?"

"Touya Akira."

Both the man and the secretary froze at the name. The man suddenly looked angry, and the secretary leaned over to look at the boy. He seemed the right age. She picked up her phone and quietly dialed a number.

"_Touya_ Akira? Not related to the late Meijin, I suppose?" the man demanded.

Touya nodded slowly, wondering why the man seemed so upset. "He was my father."

"Out!" the man shouted, pointing toward the door. "Out, get out! You're the fifth Touya child to show up this week – it's absolutely disgusting how you dishonor the Meijin's name! You're just trying to float by on his fame… well, it's not going to happen!"

"But… but…" Touya was speechless. Touya _was _his name, the Meijin _had _been his father! How could there be other kids?

The man behind the desk was furious. There were rumors that Touya Meijin had had a child, one he kept away from the media that surrounded him. After Touya's death, the rumors grew – many were saying that the child hadn't been on the plane with the Meijin and his wife, that he was still alive. This, of course, led to many fake Touya children coming in, claiming to be the heir to the great go player. None of them seemed to realize that they wouldn't be able to float through on the Meijin's name alone. Very few of them knew much about go, and those who did weren't very good players. The officials at the Go Institute had all but given up on ever finding the real Touya Jr.

Hikaru stamped his foot. "You, sir, are sorely mistaken! This is the real Touya Akira! I know, I've played him before!"

Saeki settled back, crossing his arms, scowling at the man who had yelled at Touya. Ashiwara saw him moving his fingers slightly and smiled, placing his hands on Saeki's shoulders. Pages of books began flipping, computer keys moved, typing out _He is Touya He is Touya He is Touya_. This was something Saeki had discovered he could do – he could move inanimate objects that were already capable of motion. He couldn't move the book itself, but he could flip pages. He could roll pens and pencils off the desks, and cause chairs to spin. When Ashiwara touched him, he could make even more stuff happen at the same time, and things farther away move.

Hong watched as stuff started moving, and got an idea. His lips curled up in a smirk, and then he was gone, racing around the room faster then should be possible, knocking things over, tearing things up, and generally making a mess of things.

Hikaru stood next to Akira, calm in the center of the chaos that was causing even some of the other boys to look a little frightened. Inwardly, he was laughing maniacally. "This is Touya Akira," Hikaru said. "The spirit of the Meijin is furious you are calling his beloved son a liar and a fraud." Touya edged closer to Hikaru, wondering if this really was the spirit of his father doing all of this.

The man behind the desk looked frightened as things started moving all around him, and the secretary was whispering into her phone, sounding alarmed and excited. "Multiple children," Hong heard her say as he passed. "Sato-sensei's child, and psychic ones!"

Kurata suddenly stepped forward, tugging on Hikaru's sleeve. "Um, Shindou? We need to get out of here."

Hikaru waved him off. "Let him take the exam," he told the man. "Let him become a pro, and you will _see _that he is no fake."

"Shindou, now, we need to go now…"

"Fine, fine, he can take the exam! Just stop with the moving stuff!" The man shoved a form and a pen at Touya. Saeki smirked, uncrossing his arms and letting everything fall still. Hong stopped at Ko's side, grinning up at his older brother, who placed a hand on his shoulder approvingly.

"SCATTER!" Kurata shouted, running for the door. He barreled into several heavily armed police, knocking them aside with his sheer mass as he raced for the exit.

The other boys chased after him, Kaga in the lead, forcibly shoving others aside. Waya leapt at Isumi, taking a bullet in the arm. "Get ahead of me!"

Hikaru grabbed Touya's arm, pulling him behind as he ran for the door. Touya had frozen in fear when Kurata shouted. "Hurry, Hikaru, hurry!" Sai cried. "Don't let them get you!"

"It's MACPR!" one of the police shouted, pointing at Hikaru. "Don't let him get away!"

"That's the Sato boy too!" the secretary offered helpfully, pointing at Touya.

"Shoot them both!"

Hong was the first out, pulling Ko behind him. The two fled into the night, easily outstripping the police.

Once out of the building, the rest of the boys split up. Hikaru kept running, pulling Touya along behind him, Sai at his side. Kaga, Tsutsui, and Mitani went another way, staying close together. Saeki, Ashiwara, Kurata, and Isumi started going off in a third direction, but Waya hung back, distracting the police.

Isumi looked behind him in time to see Waya shot at pointblank range.

"WAYA!" Without a thought to his own safety, Isumi turned, intending to go back for Waya, but Saeki caught him, jerking him away.

"We need to get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving Waya!" Isumi concentrated and passed right through Saeki's arms.

"Oh no you don't!" Saeki cried, catching Isumi again. "Come on, we need to get out!"

Waya was back on his feet somehow, jumping in front of another police in time to take another bullet. "Isumi-san, go!" he called. "I'll be fine! Go!" Another shot, another bullet. Waya was purposely throwing himself in the line of fire, trying to protect his friends. "Get out of here, Isumi-san!"

"You heard him, come on!" Saeki dragged Isumi off with the others.

* * *

Several of the police had gone after Mitani, Kaga, and Tsutsui. The trio had a head start, but soon found they had made a wrong turn somewhere, as they stared at a dead end in an alley. Kaga pointed up at a fire escape, the closest end still too far away for them to reach. "Can I throw to that, Tsutsui?"

Tsutsui made some rough measurements and mental calculations before nodding. "Yeah, if you do your best." He put his hand on Kaga's shoulder, and Kaga reached over to Mitani, picking the smaller boy up easily.

Mitani curled into a ball and took a deep breath. "Ready."

"Three, two, one – go!" Kaga threw Mitani at the fire escape with all his strength.

Mitani uncurled and reached for the bars as they drew close, catching it with one hand. One hand was enough though. He swung and flipped up onto the metal stairs, twisting his body in the air to land on his feet. He then dropped to his knees, bracing himself, and held out his hands. "Tsutsui, come on!"

Kaga picked up Tsutsui next. He threw the second boy, and Mitani caught him, barely. He pulled Tsutsui up and then reached down for Kaga. "Come on, you can do it!"

Kaga went to the wall, intending to climb it, when the police appeared at the other end of the alley. "Go," Kaga hissed up to the other two. "You can get away – go!"

"Kaga, come on!" Mitani stretched his hand toward Kaga. "There's time, come on!"

Kaga dropped into a fighting stance. "No, there isn't. Get out before they shoot at you. That's an order!"

"Kaga!"

"Come on, Mitani," Tsutsui said quietly. "He's right, there isn't time. Not if they have guns."

They did have guns. And they didn't hesitate to use their guns. Kaga didn't even have a chance to swing before he dropped to his knees, having taken bullets in his legs. The police weren't aiming to kill him. They wanted him alive.

Mitani and Tsutsui watched, huddled in the fire escape, as three police tried to subdue Kaga. Even on his knees, Kaga managed to beat them off him.

Mitani winced at the sound of another gunshot, seeing Kaga jerk slightly, now clutching his right arm. His lips were pulled back in an angry snarl as he faced down the half-dozen police who were slowly closing around him. Mitani considered jumping on top of them, but Tsutsui grabbed his arm and shook his head, as if he knew what Mitani had been thinking. "It won't work, we need to get away," he whispered. "We can't do anything for Kaga now."

"I'm not leaving Kaga!" Mitani hissed back. "You don't understand, you don't-"

"Mitani, just shut up!" Only then did Mitani see the tears in Tsutsui's eyes, shimmering behind his glasses. "_We can't do anything._ Not right now. We need to get away. That's all we can do. Don't think I don't want to help Kaga – I do, I really do, but I _can't_. You can't. It's impossible, right now."

"You!" One of the police pointed his gun at Kaga, looking shocked. "_You're _a Bionic?"

Kaga's snarl flickered briefly into a look of surprise. "Dad?"

The officer moved forward, cracking his gun against Kaga's temple, taking advantage of his momentary surprise. Kaga crumpled to the ground.

Mitani and Tsutsui looked at each other. Bionic? Kaga's dad? What was going on?

* * *

"I think we lost 'em," Su-Yeong said as he released Yong-Ha.

"You're too fast for me," Yong-Ha replied, out of breath. It was all he could do to stay upright when Su-Yeong dragged him like this – if he fell, the results would be the same as if he was being dragged behind a car.

Su-Yeong grinned over his shoulder at Yong-Ha. "But I got us away."

"Yeah, and you also got us into trouble." Yong-Ha frowned disapprovingly at the younger boy.

Su-Yeong hung his head. "I didn't start it though… somebody else started making things move. I just thought I could make it even cooler by knocking stuff down. And we needed Touya to make money for us."

"Somebody else? So we're not the only "special" people?" Yong-Ha sat on a bench. Su-Yeong cuddled next to him.

Yong-Ha knew he was different from a very young age. When most kids were struggling with their first words, Yong-Ha was already fluent in five languages. By the age of five, he could communicate with anyone native to Neo-Orient (although Japanese was the "official" language, very few outside of the Japanese province spoke it, at least natively. Most preferred the original language of their own region) By ten, he knew every living language. Now, he knew over five hundred dead languages, including Latin and Hawaiian. He was very good at reading and writing the various languages too – although he wasn't quite sure how he had learned everything he did. He just knew it.

Su-Yeong had always been different too, except his speed was not with languages, but rather physical. However, many years of being called a freak for being able to run at speeds over 97 kilometers per hour caused Su-Yeong to slow down. He only ran fast around Yong-Ha now, who never scorned him for it. Sometimes, like now, that speed was useful. Other times, Su-Yeong just liked to show off. It didn't matter though – Yong-Ha never really scolded him, too much.

"We're out," Su-Yeong said. "What now?"

"Now we find someplace to stay," Yong-Ha replied. "Maybe even try to hook up with the others again."

"Why did the police shoot at us? What was that all about? We just broke out of an orphanage! That's hardly anything bad!"

Yong-Ha shook his head. "I don't know, Su-Yeong. I don't know."

* * *

"They're right behind us! Why are they right behind us?" Ashiwara whimpered, running alongside Saeki. Kurata was in the back of the little group, Isumi sandwiched between them, in case he tried to go back for Waya.

Isumi was just running blindly. All he could think of was Waya, his little Waya, turning to look at him, bleeding from a dozen different gunshot wounds and shouting at him to go, that he'd be fine. How could he be fine? He was going to be killed! And for what? Why? Why was this happening to them?

"Ne, Saeki, you can move stuff, right?" Kurata asked, huffing slightly. Despite being severely overweight, he was keeping up with the others very well. "We're gonna need that soon – you'll need to turn their guns on them."

"I can't do that!" Saeki cried. "I can only pull the trigger – not move the gun itself!"

"Use Ashiwara – and hurry!"

Ashiwara and Saeki looked over at each other, then Saeki grabbed Ashiwara's hand and stopped running. He turned to face the police, taking a deep breath, and held out his hand as if stopping traffic. "Come on, come on," he whispered.

"You can do it," Ashiwara told him, eyes wide as he squeezed Saeki's hand.

The police chasing the four slowed to a walk when they saw Saeki and Ashiwara had stopped. "Come on, boys, we're not going to hurt you if you come nicely."

"You shot Waya!" Ashiwara shouted. "How can we trust you?"

The officer who seemed to be in charge stepped forward, lifting his visor. "Yes, we did shoot the other boy, and we're really sorry about that. We were told that you kids… would be… dangerous…" His voice slowed, almost stuttering, as his hand turned to point his own gun at himself. "Hey… stop that!" The other officers were finding that they too were pointing guns at each other.

Saeki was trembling slightly from exertion. "I'll do it," he said, his voice hoarse. "I'll pull the triggers… just give me a reason…"

"This is bad, bad, bad," Ashiwara said, staring at the police. "Saeki, you aren't going to kill them, are you?"

Saeki's hand was shaking as he started to back away, pulling Ashiwara with him. "Go back. Go down the alley, go back to where you were, and I won't shoot." The trembling of his body was present in his voice as well – he didn't know how much longer he could hold this, even with Ashiwara's help.

But then Ashiwara moved his hands to Saeki's shoulders, half-hugging him, and Saeki felt a fresh surge of strength. He stopped shaking, and he glared at the police. "Go. Now."

The police were still able to move their legs, and most of them did as Saeki said, moving away, fleeing the alley. They were prepared to capture some escaped Bionics, but they hadn't been expecting a child to turn their weapons on them.

Soon, the only officer left was the one in charge, still staring down the barrel of his own gun. "Please go," Saeki said quietly. "I don't want to shoot you. I really don't."

The officer laughed, watching the two. He was trying to call Saeki's bluff. "Come on, kid, you don't want to become a murderer, do you? All you have to do is come with us, we just want to ask you some questions."

Kurata must have yelled "SCATTER!" for a reason. He wouldn't have told them to scatter if going with the police would cause less trouble – Kurata was rather lazy, and always went with the path of least resistance. For him to run… his intuition must have told him that the police were not safe this time. He had actually said as much before they entered the Institute to begin with. Saeki would trust that. "I won't go with you. I have no reason to. Just leave."

The officer had been watching the pair. He didn't miss how Saeki seemed to have become reenergized when the brown-haired kid hugged him. It seemed to him like the brown-haired kid was the one with the real power, and Saeki was just the tool through which it was wielded. "Look, boys, I'm not a bad guy. I'm just trying to do my job."

"We haven't done anything wrong," Saeki protested. "And we're both over eighteen – adults. We're allowed to be on the streets unsupervised."

While the officer was distracting Saeki with his words, he was moving his free hand to a small gun hidden in a holster on his back. Just one shot – he'd just get one shot. He _had _to hit the brown-haired kid. "Still, I need to take you two to the station, it's what I've been told to do."

"Why?" Saeki demanded. "Why can't we just go on our way?"

"Because you're Bionic," the officer said.

"Bionic?" Saeki had no idea what a Bionic was. He turned to look at Ashiwara, who looked back at him and shrugged.

This was the opportunity the officer took, when both were looking away from him. He pulled the gun, flipped the safety, and shot at the brown-haired kid.

Ashiwara jerked away from Saeki with a cry of pain and Saeki reacted immediately, squeezing the officer's trigger with his mind before the officer had a chance to turn the gun away. Ashiwara cried out again as the corpse wobbled a little before falling backwards – the gun had still been pointed at the officer's face.

Saeki's eyes were wide as he stepped backwards. "Oh shit… I killed him… I killed him…" He pressed a fist to his mouth, unable to take his eyes away from the dead man. "I killed him…"

Ashiwara went over to Saeki, pressing his hand over his right shoulder where he had been shot. "Saeki… Saeki, we need to get out of here… we need to get out now, or we're going to get in so much trouble…"

Saeki stared at Ashiwara. "I killed him… Ashiwara…"

Ashiwara stepped closer to Saeki, nudging his shoulder with his nose. "Come on, Saeki… we need to get out, now…" There was a hint of desperation in his voice – how long would the other officers stay away? Especially after hearing the two shots?

Saeki still didn't move, and Ashiwara tried walking away from the scene, in the direction Kurata and Isumi had run. Saeki eventually stirred and followed, several steps behind. "I killed him…"

"Yes, you did," Ashiwara confirmed. "But he shot me first – it was self-defense." He was fighting his own panic down – one of them had to be rational-minded in order for them both to survive this. "Just run, Saeki, come on, let's just run, and get to Isumi and Kurata, and then everything will be fine."

"He's dead…"

"Ashiwara, Saeki! Over here!" Kurata was crouched between stacks of soggy boxes, managing to hide much of his bulk.

Isumi then came out from behind Kurata, looking stunned. "It's empty," he said, his voice dull.

"Let's go in then!"

Isumi shook his head. "I can't. I can't take other people with me. You're all too big."

"Too big for what?" Ashiwara asked, glancing behind him, wondering how long before the police showed up.

"Isumi can walk through walls," Kurata informed the other two. "He's weird like that – just like how you're weird, Saeki, and you help him be weirder, Ashiwara… hey, Isumi, do you think Ashiwara can help you take people with you?"

Isumi just looked blankly at Kurata, not comprehending. Kurata sighed. "Ashiwara, take Isumi's hands and go stand in the wall facing each other with your arms over your heads."

Ashiwara pulled his hand away from his shoulder and grimaced at the blood there. "I don't think I can move my arm…"

"Just go touch him and stand in the wall then." Kurata was beginning to sound a little impatient. "Whoever shot you will come back to finish you off, probably!" Kurata kept seeing these terrible scenes in his mind, where people he knew, like Waya or Kaga, were locked in tiny cells and being hurt, judging from the screams he could hear. It sounded worse than anything they had endured at the orphanages, and Kurata did _not _want that to happen to anyone. At least Waya had died – he kept getting shot at until he fell. He wouldn't have to suffer like that.

Ashiwara tried to wipe his bloody hand off on his pants before taking Isumi's hand. He took a deep breath and tried to step into the wall like Kurata had told him.

Much to his surprise, the wall molded around him with a sensation like being wrapped in mashed potatoes. Isumi had stepped into the wall as well and was now facing him. Ashiwara felt a lump in his throat when he met Isumi's eyes – the younger boy looked absolutely lost and confused without Waya's bright life to focus on.

"In!" Kurata pushed Saeki to the wall and under Isumi and Ashiwara's joined hands. Saeki fell through what he thought was solid concrete. Kurata squeezed his way through next, and then Isumi and Ashiwara passed all the way through, releasing their hands.

Kurata looked around, rubbing his hands together. He could see absolutely nothing. It was pitch black in the room. "This is good."

Ashiwara sat down and leaned against the now-firm wall, reaching up to hold his shoulder again. "How so? We can't see anything."

"Which means not even a crack of light! Not even a crack to let the police know we could have gotten in here!" Kurata sounded triumphant.

Saeki felt his way around for Ashiwara. He tripped over the other's legs and quickly dropped to his knees, then laid down beside Ashiwara, wrapping his arms around Ashiwara's waist and resting his head in his lap. "He's dead," he whispered.

Isumi whispered the same words to himself, closing his eyes and remembering Waya. He tried to think of only good times, only happier memories, like their first (and only) kiss in the tree, or the times when Waya would poke his head into Isumi's room just to say good night when they were both at St. John's. No matter what he thought of, however, his mind kept returning to how he last saw Waya, blood on his lips, his face, his body, as he screamed at Isumi to leave. Waya's last words to him, false assurances that he'd be fine, just go, rang in his head. Isumi sank to the ground, pulling his knees to his chest and releasing a choked sob. He didn't care that the others were in the same room, could hear him. Waya was _gone_. There was no way he would be fine. He may have been nigh indestructible when he came to falling out of trees, but no human could survive taking bullets, so many bullets, at such short range. Isumi didn't bother to hold back his tears.

* * *

"I'll be damned… kid's still breathing." One officer nudged Waya's body with his foot.

Waya was slightly curled up on the ground, stained red from head to toe. His arms were tightly curled around his stomach and his eyes were closed, a grimace of pain across his face. He _was _still breathing, making a harsh, rasping sound with every breath he took.

Another officer crouched next to Waya, prodding him lightly with the butt of his gun, using it to roll Waya onto his back. Waya hissed in pain. "Kid's not even unconscious!"

"What was on that list again?" The first officer pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket and scanned it over. "Only two Rs, FCLR and FARS. He's not either – definitely not female."

"Idiot," the second said, getting to his feet again. "We're dealing with the progeny of the Bionics, not the Bionics themselves – those are all dead or recaught. They're all accounted for."

"No… see here? The FARS never came back."

"And he's not the FARS. He's probably her kid, or the FCLR's kid."

"Or just a normal human."

The second just shook his head and took the paper from the first, shoving it into his own pocket. "Check some of the locations of those wounds. He's got a couple lung shots, at least one stomach, one at his throat – unless he's got some R in him, he'd be dead. There's no way this one's human." The second one then pulled out a communicator. "We have an injured Bionic at the Go Institute, need transportation and medic."

* * *

"Shindou!"

"Don't look back." Hikaru ran, never letting go of Touya's arm. Ahead of him, Sai peered around corners and investigated alleys, reporting back to Hikaru.

**That one's a dead end, there's a mean looking dog down that one, over here though, turn left! See, a crowd you can get lost in. Go right now, there, straight, keep going…**

With Sai's eyes, Hikaru was able to keep himself and Touya moving away from the police. Eventually, Sai deemed them far enough ahead to point out a dumpster. Hikaru opened the lid slightly and told Touya to climb in. Touya looked at him like he was crazy. Hikaru scowled and climbed in first. "Come on, Touya, we have to hide!"

Touya looked behind him, then reluctantly eased his way into the trash with Hikaru. Hikaru closed the lid, feeling Sai settle in beside him. "Now we wait. Quietly."

Touya tried not to breathe very much, wondering if his nose would be permanently wrinkled by the time he emerged. He couldn't hold back a gasp, however, when something scuttled over his hand.

"What's wrong?" Hikaru's voice was barely above a breath.

"I felt something move," Touya whimpered.

"Probably just a cockroach, or a mouse, or a rat," Hikaru whispered back. "Just don't move around too much unless it tries to get up your clothes." He heard Touya make another sound, a frightened squeaky noise, but the other boy obeyed him and didn't move.

Sai would poke his head through the side of the dumpster every now and then, watching for trouble. After what seemed like months (but was really only 90 minutes), Sai smiled at Hikaru. **I think we're safe, for now. I saw some police a lot earlier, but they didn't stop, they just kept running. We may still want to hide, but we can maybe open the dumpster and talk a bit – I think now it's only fair to explain what's going on.**

"You keep watch then," Hikaru said. "And let me know if I forget anything." He pushed the lid open and gestured for Touya to move into the slightly fresher and less-revolting air.

"Shindou, what's going on?" Touya looked up at Hikaru, hugging his knees. He had been accused of lying about his name, shot at, and forced to hide in a dumpster with who knows how many bugs and other crawling things (Kaga and Mitani had given him a fear of small, moving objects). He was sad, scared, and dirty, and more than anything, he wanted to know _why _he was suffering like this.

Hikaru took a deep breath, immediately regretting it as he gagged on the stench. When he recovered, he leaned back against the wall of the dumpster and looked up at the grey sky. "What I'm about to tell you is going to sound relatively unbelievable and will probably turn your world upside down – but it's completely true. And you're going to just have to believe me, cause I don't know to prove it right now."

Touya just pulled his knees tighter to his chest. "I don't see how anything you could say could make my world any more crazy then it has become today."

Hikaru rolled his head to the side to look at Touya. "What if I said I wasn't human? And you were only half-human? Would that make it crazier?"

Touya looked at Hikaru, feeling slightly frightened – maybe he _should _be scared of Hikaru's oddities. "No, I'd say you were just making it up. It can't be true – how can I be _half-_human? There's no creature alive that can mate with humans and have a successful child. And you're human. I know you are, I can see it with my own eyes." He poked Hikaru. "You're skin and muscle and bones, just like me. Human."

"It would depend on your definition of human," Hikaru said. "In every definition, neither of us are fully human. In a select few definitions, we're both human, or you're human." Touya opened his mouth, about to protest again, but Hikaru shook his head. "Why don't you let me explain first, okay?"

Touya paused for a moment, then nodded, slowly. "Okay…"

Hikaru closed his eyes. "Where to start? Probably… fifty years ago."

**Almost seventy now, Hikaru.** Sai sat on the edge of the dumpster, watching for trouble and keeping an ear on the conversation.

"Sorry, almost seventy years ago." Hikaru opened his eyes and folded his hands in his lap. "Almost seventy years ago, a bunch of scientists were appointed to a committee. Their job was to find a way to save the human race. This was around the time when lots and lots of plagues were running everywhere and food crises were going on, and pollution was at its worst. Humans weren't adapting fast enough to thrive. Among the scientists gathered there were some who specialized in cloning and others who preferred robotics. They both came up with a similar idea: create a new human. The cloning scientists wanted to clone and manipulate genes to manually evolve humans, while the robotics wanted to build artificial humans." Hikaru closed his eyes again. "These scientists had all been hand-picked because they were A) Good at what they did and B) Enthusiastic about their work and trying new things and experimenting and dreaming and inventing." He opened his eyes and looked over at Touya. "Had they been less creative and enthusiastic, neither of us may have ever been born."

"What happened?" Touya asked quietly. "What did they choose?"

"One young scientist, Dr. Kuwabara, was barely more than an apprentice. He worked with genetic stuff. He came up with the solution: _build _a human. Not a robot, with an artificial intelligence that does only what you program it to and no more, and not a manipulated clone, with its DNA just slightly twisted from already-existing DNA, but rather almost a mix. He suggested building a DNA strand from scratch, using human DNA as a guide, but building in all kinds of things – like the ability to function on less food than normal humans. That's not something that any amount of gene manipulation would be able to achieve with a clone."

"Why not just robots then?"

"Dr. Kuwabara suggested making organic humanoid creatures similar enough to humans so they could mate with the humans and pass on their genes, thus bolstering the original human race."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"It didn't stop with just manipulating to need less food and create less bodily waste," Hikaru said. "One scientist was exploring the supernatural and psychics and such. He said that he and his team believed they had actually narrowed down psychic abilities to a few select genes, and wanted to include that in the new humans – let new humans be psychic." Hikaru shook his head slightly. "As you can imagine, it didn't stop there. Once he suggested one thing, other scientists began piping up with their own ideas. Eventually, nine "super" traits were decided upon. Some seemed too fantastic to be plausible, such as the "morphable" trait."

"Morphable?"

"The idea behind morphable was "Let the new humans mold themselves to fit their environment as needed. Why have a toolbox if you can turn your hand into a screwdriver, or a hammer? No more lost tools, and you'd never not have what you need."" Hikaru shrugged. "It's a fun idea, to say the least."

"What other traits were there?"

"Let's see…" Hikaru counted them off on his fingers. "Morphable and psychic, that's two. Regenerative, calculating, linguistic… five now, umm… speed, strength, flexibility… and connective. Nine." Touya looked confused. Hikaru smiled. "You know what morphable is already. Psychic actually shows itself in different ways. I have psychic traits, so I can see Sai, and hear him, and interact with him. I think Kurata has psychic traits too – he can see the future. That's his intuition."

"Kurata's not human?"

"He's most likely half-human, like you," Hikaru said. "Anyway… regenerative, that's just healing. It's actually a mis… mis… not the right name for it."

**Misnomer.**

"Yeah, it's a misnomer. Regenerativeness doesn't let you regenerate lost limbs, just heal injuries and diseases and stuff. But it's still useful. Calculating – very very quick minds. Calculating lets you be good at planning and strategizing and math. Linguistic is similar, but linguisticness only deals with languages. You basically learn and understand all languages really quickly, even if you've never been taught the language or heard it before in your life. I think psychicness bled into that trait. Then there's speed – we're not talking sprinter fast, we're talking _vehicle _fast. Super-human. Speedy people have been clocked at 75 kilometers per hour in the lab."

"Wow." Touya's eyes were wide. "That's _fast_."

"Very. Then there's strength – really really strong. Beat up anybody type strength."

"Kaga strength?" Touya asked quietly.

Hikaru shrugged. "Maybe – I don't really know how strong he is. Mitani's probably got flexibility though – very agile people. Flip around a lot. Mitani's flippyness helped us get out of the orphanage." Hikaru paused, thinking. "Morphable, psychic, regenerating, calculating, linguistic, speed, strength, flexibility – what one am I missing?"

**Connective.**

"Connective." Sai and Touya answered at the same time.

"Ah, yeah, right, connective. That's an odd one, another hard one to make real. Connective isn't really a skill on it's own, like calculating or flexibility, but it just helps other people. If a connective person touches somebody with another skill, then that other person's skill gets a big boost. If somebody connective touches me, I can see all kinds of ghosts, and talk to the ones around me, not just Sai. Otherwise, I can only get a feeling that there're other ghosts around, but I don't even see shadows of them."

"So… it worked? The scientists made new humans with all these traits?"

"Yes and no." Hikaru grinned. "This is probably where they showed the most intelligence. First they gave the new humans a name – Bionics – and then somebody said, "Hey, if we give every single Bionic all of these super traits, then we'll be dealing with a potentially invincible race that could wipe out humans rather than bolster them." So the scientists decided to give only three traits to each Bionic, with a total of 84 different combinations. It took them a really long time to get everything right, but they decided that they were going to make 168 Bionics, two of each combination. Then they were going to see which Bionics worked the best and which didn't, and make more of the good ones. At this point, all Bionics were boys, but basically androgynous."

"Why androgynous?"

Hikaru shrugged again. "I guess it's because the scientists also liked pretty things, and wanted to make girl Bionics, but had already decided that it would probably be best for the actual baby-making process to take place in human girls, since human girls already have tried and true ways of making babies. So most of their Bionics – the first few batches at least – were all very girly in appearance, but they all had… penises."

Touya blushed when Hikaru said "penises." Hikaru himself giggled a bit at the word. Bionic or not, they were both twelve-year-old boys.

Sai just rolled his eyes.

"Sai's one of the first Bionics," Hikaru said. "He's actually in the second batch – they made twelve batches of fourteen each. That's why he's really pretty and girly."

**I am not girly.**

"Just look at your hair, Sai, and your dress."

**This is the _fashion _of the Heian court, I'll have you know! I was considered extremely masculine! **

"Yeah, whatever. Sai looks like a girl," Hikaru informed Touya. "Just in case I didn't tell you that already."

Touya smiled a little. "What happened next?"

"Yeah, okay. Yeah. So, the scientists are growing bunches of little baby Bionics in test tubes and stuff. It takes years and years to get everything right, and some scientists leave the project, and some scientists join the project. One to join after the Bionics are all just little baby sized is Dr. Sato Kouyou – your father."

Touya's eyes widened. "But my father's name was Touya…"

**Ichikawa-san, **Sai said. **You said Ichikawa-san called him Dr. Sato, and Ichikawa Harumi was the name of one of the Bionics.**

"Ichikawa-san," Hikaru repeated. "Sai says that Ichikawa Harumi was the name of one of the Bionics, and you said she sometimes called your dad Dr. Sato. He probably changed his name."

"But if he was a scientist, then he's human, not Bionic," Touya said slowly. "Does that mean…"

Hikaru grinned. "Lots of the girl Bionics love the love story between Dr. Sato and Akiko the Bionic."

Touya just stared at Hikaru. When he found his voice again, he said, "But I thought Bionics were all boys..." It was the only thing he could think of to say.

Hikaru raised one finger. "And that's where your dad came in. He looked around at the Bionics and asked "Where are all the girls?" Then he was told there weren't any, and he just looked thunderstruck, according to the stories. "Why aren't there girls?" he asked. "Did you ever want to make more pure Bionics after the originals? Wouldn't it be cheaper to let them reproduce then to manufacture new ones?" He's a smart one, your dad." Hikaru grinned again. "The other scientists just kinda were quiet, and then one asked, "How hard would it be to make half of these girls?" They eventually figured out a way – used a virus thingy to make half of the Bionics – one of each type – have a slight mutation which made them develop girl parts. Except not really all that well." Hikaru nodded. "Not-Bionic girls are a lot bigger on top, I noticed." He gestured with his hands to show Touya he was talking about breasts.

Touya smiled a little again. "What happened next?"

Hikaru wiggled his fingers in front of him. "Well, the scientists had the Bionics in a sort of sleep thing. They grew bigger, but they weren't aware of the world around them. The scientists built a big dome thing to put the Bionics in. It was designed to be as real world as possible, but still carefully controlled. Until they knew how the Bionics would act, they didn't want to put them among lots of humans. Basically, the dome was a huge cage."

**It had little cages in it.**

"Yeah, that's right. The scientists were also curious – is it possible for someone from the modern day to survive in the past? Without the technology we have now? So they set up little environments in the dome to be different time periods, and they put Bionics in those environments and had them act like they were in that era and thought they were really there. Sai had been placed in a Heian era environment, where he was a go tutor to the emperor." Hikaru snickered. "Then Sai and another Bionic messed up and made the scientists panic."

**Hikaruuuuu! I did not mess up!**

… **okay, maybe I did mess up, a little…**

"What did he do?"

"_He _didn't do anything, at first. See, the scientists set up two go tutors to the emperor, who was actually a scientist. But the other go tutor got jealous, and challenged Sai to a game to see who was the better go tutor and thus the only one deserving to be the emperor's go tutor. Long story short – he cheated, accused Sai of cheating, Sai got flustered, lost, and killed himself."

"He killed himself?" Touya looked horrified.

Hikaru nodded. "Drowned himself in a river – he lost all his honor and stuff. They had a really strict honor system back then!"

**You don't need to sound so cheerful about it.**

"Yeah, the scientists supposedly were all freaking out, because two Bionics showed jealousy, dishonesty, flusterdness, and suicidal tendencies – two Bionics living in one of the other eras. So they stopped the other era projects, and moved all the Bionics to the modern-day dome."

"What about my parents?" Touya asked quietly. "If my mother was a Bionic, as you say, how did she get out of the dome?"

"That was in the rebellion," Hikaru said.

"Rebellion?"

Hikaru nodded. "It was way before my time – 2213. That's the year the Bionics were being "woken up," fourteen every 2nd of the month. Your mom and my mom and my dad were all in the first fourteen woken up. They were all given names according to what gender they were – F or M – and what three traits they had. A for connective, C for calculating, F for flexibility, L for linguistic, M for morphable, P for psychic, Q for speed, R for regenerative, and S for strength. Your mom, for example, was…"

**FCMP.**

"FCMP. That means Female Calculating Morphable Psychic." Hikaru nodded. "My mom was FCPR, and my dad was MACP. I'm an oddball – MACCPPR, or just MACPR for short. I'm the only Bionic with more than three traits." He grinned. "Oh, and Sai was MCLR."

Touya looked away, digesting this for a moment. "If those were the names, then how did my mother get the name Akiko? And Sai get Sai? And you get Shindou?"

"Your dad," Hikaru answered. "He saw Bionics as humans, while most of the other scientists saw them as test subjects. Dr. Kuwabara was the only scientist left from the original team by then, and he saw Bionics as his babies. But anyway, your dad saw Bionics as humans, and he gave them all human names. The Bionics loved their human names and started calling each other by the human names rather than the letters. The other scientists got mad at your dad and refused to acknowledge the human name of the Bionic. Time passed. Your dad would interact with Bionics, ask them questions like "How are you? How's your brother?" and treat them like they were people worthy of respect. The other scientists didn't, except Dr. Kuwabara, who just loved that his idea had become real.

"Bionics were really smart though. They quickly figured out that the scientists were observing them, and they pretended to be stupider and more submissive then they really were, in order to observe the humans and figure out what they really wanted. They also figured out there was a pattern – every second of the month, fourteen new Bionics showed up."

"Did the Bionics have families?"

"No, because they weren't allowed to have kids. Not yet, at least. The scientists wanted to watch them for a while before introducing a new factor – kids. Each Bionic did have either a sister or brother though, according to your dad. Remember how all Bionics were boys at first, and there were two of each? There were 84 twins. Then half were turned to girls, and so each girl has a brother and each boy has a sister. Except me." Hikaru sounded a little sad at that. He then shook his head. "So, yeah. Your dad really liked one of the first batch Bionics, one he had named Akiko, and she really liked him. He would talk to her, tell her about the real world, and he told her that it wasn't fair to keep the Bionics locked away like animals, and he asked her to run away and live with him. According to the stories Mom told me, she refused, saying she wanted to, but she wouldn't leave her fellow Bionics. So, one day, he gave her a whole bunch of access cards to get out of the dome. He told her to let them out.

"The Bionics planned a rebellion. On May 2nd, another 14 Bionics joined the first four batches. On May 5th, they suddenly dropped what they were doing and revolted. They got out of the dome and started running through the laboratories. They tried not to hurt humans, but they had two goals: wake up the other Bionics and get out. Except the scientists called security, and fights started." Hikaru turned his face down. "Mom and Dad were in charge of finding the sleeping Bionics and waking them up. They did a good job… but then they were cornered. Dad can't use the left side of his body very well. Mom doesn't have feet. They got those injuries in the rebellion." He took a deep breath. "Lots and lots of Bionics were killed, so every May 5th, we have a memorial service for them, and Mom and Dad tell stories about Dr. Sato and the first batchers. Mom and Dad are the only first batch Bionics in the dome, probably the only ones left alive."

"What happened to the others?"

"Eleven of the first batch Bionics and one second batch Bionic escaped. Mom and Dad were caught, and the fourteenth first batch Bionic was killed. All but the one second batch Bionic died too, and most of the third, fourth, and fifth batch. The few that survived were really badly injured, like Mom and Dad. The other Bionics, batch six through twelve, were modified similar to how the guy Bionics were turned into girl bionics. Except they weren't turned into girls, they were turned into robots, basically." Hikaru scowled at his feet. "Sixth through twelfth Bionics do anything humans tell them to do. They're not faking their submissiveness. They do like to listen to stories about the first Bionics though, and they love stories about your dad, and the outside world.

"The Bionics that escaped disappeared for a long time, but eventually they were all tracked down and killed. The plane crash that killed your parents?" Hikaru looked over at Touya, looking sad. "The government planned it, to get rid of Dr. Sato, who Bionics had come to see as a god. They planted the bomb and had it explode. You were supposed to be on it too, if you existed at all."

Touya looked shocked at the news – his father had been murdered? "I was really sick, and so Mother and Father thought it best for me to stay home, watched by a nurse, rather than take a long flight."

"The Bionics liked to imagine that Dr. Sato married Akiko and had a family. There were rumors that he actually did have a real child – you. When the plane blew up, the scientists showed the footage to the Bionics." Hikaru smiled slightly. "_That _was cool – not the explosion, but what we did. All of us Bionics just dropped what we were doing and we bowed our heads and we sang a lament for your dad, and for Akiko, who was probably with him, and for the rest of his family." Hikaru bowed his head and sang a few lines, to show Touya what he meant. "_Ar sindarnoriello caita mornie, Ar ilye tier undulave lumbule…_"

"What does it mean?" Touya asked in a whisper.

"Umm… I don't know. I'm not linguistic. Some linguistic Bionics came up with it."

**Out of a grey country darkness lies, and all paths are drowned deep in shadow…**

Hikaru repeated what Sai had said, and Touya swallowed thickly. "They all sang that for Father and Mother?"

"Yeah," Hikaru said. "Every single Bionic sang. I almost didn't, 'cause I didn't know what was going on, but Mom told me to bow my head and pretend to sing if I didn't know the words, because a great man had died and I needed to show my respect."

"Thank you," Touya whispered.

Hikaru shrugged. "I didn't know him, but I heard lots of stories. Mom named me after one of the second batch Bionics who died, and Sai would play go with him all the time – he was really good at go. Becoming a go pro after he ran away from the science institute was probably a good thing."

He leaned back, looking over at Sai. "I think that's the end of the story – no, wait, there's me. Okay, so the scientists decided that enough time had passed, and they were ready to make more Bionics. They asked Dr. Kuwabara, 'cause he's the only original Bionic person still working at the Institute – they asked him which two Bionics were best to breed to have the best possible child. Dr. Kuwabara said, "If you want a nice, submissive, docile little pet, pick any two from batch twelve. But if you want a _Bionic_, a real Bionic, as Bionics are meant to be, take the two from the first batch." Hikaru grinned. "Being the senior-most scientist on staff, Dr. Kuwabara eventually got to choose which two should have a kid, and he picked my parents, the first batch. And so I haven't been virusized to be docile. I do have to have tests sometimes, to see how much of my parents' abilities I have, and it seems like everything melted down to me. I have two Cs, so I'm a good calculator – though lacking in common sense, Sai says, and I have two Ps, so I'm able to touch Sai and stuff – he's solid to me. Most psychic Bionics can only talk to ghosts, I'm the only one able to feel him without needing a connective Bionic helping me." Hikaru stretched his legs out. "As far as I know, only one thing about me was tweaked. They would run tests on me and Mom before I was born, to make sure I was going to be healthy, and the realized that I was developing a uterus. So they virusized me there to stop it, so I wouldn't be a boy able to have babies. Anyway, Mom asked Sai to guide me, so when I was born, he attached himself to me and now I wouldn't be able to lose him if I wanted to. And then Mom and Dad kept plotting ways to get me out of the dome – they didn't want me growing up as a test subject my whole life. And two years ago, it worked, and they broke me out, and then I went to St. John's and met all of you guys." Hikaru grinned. "And now we're running from the police who want to catch you and me and maybe Kurata too, and run tests on us and stuff. But they'd probably just kill you."

Touya gasped at that. "Kill me?"

"You're Dr. Sato's son." Hikaru tucked his hands behind his head. "You could be dangerous. After all, Dr. Sato led the first revolution."

"But, but, that makes no sense! Just because Father helped them escape doesn't mean I will, or even can!"

"So you believe me?" Hikaru turned to Touya, staring steadily at him. "You believe all the stuff about Bionics?"

"I…" Touya didn't know. To be honest, he had forgotten Hikaru had claimed what he was saying was true. It had just sounded like a story someone would read from a book. "Maybe… I don't know-"

"You'd want proof?" Touya nodded, and Hikaru sighed slightly. "I really don't know how to prove it, except showing you the labs and dome, and that's just stupid. You can't see Sai, and quick thinking or connectiveness can't be seen either. I do heal faster than humans, but not fast enough to be obvious. Bionics are designed to blend in with humans."

**It's starting to rain again.**

Hikaru looked up, catching a raindrop in his eye. "Ugh. We may want to close the lid."

"Stay here?" Touya looked at the trash in disgust.

Hikaru shrugged, standing up to pull the lid closed. "It's pretty dry, and we're hidden. It's good enough."

Touya looked around warily, scooting closer to Hikaru. Hikaru wrapped his arm around Touya, pulling him closer, and Touya rested his head on Hikaru's shoulder. The two boys fell asleep like that, huddled together in a dumpster, listening to the rain.

* * *

Thank you to Tristripe, K, and Ano-nime for reviewing. I appreciate it.

Oh, one more note. The song Hikaru sings is an elven lament in _Lord of the Rings_. I believe Galadriel sings it.

Crawler


	4. Survive

This chapter has a co-author, a close friend of mine, Clees. Her website can be found on my profile. Clees is an absolute _angel _for not only putting up with me going on and on about how I'm going to torture these boys, but for actually helping me throw ideas around. Her involvement is actually shaping a large part of this story – Clees is a Kaga fan. And no one else. So she works on scenes with me involving Kaga, Mitani, and Tsutsui, since they stick together. As a result, a large part of the story will be dedicated to those three.

In that vein, if anyone is interested in throwing around ideas involving any of the other characters with me, feel free to get in touch with me, either via review (make sure you leave some form of contact information, email or IM), email: wallcrawler27 AT hot mail. comor IM: AIM: FantismalSpider, YIM: gamespider2004, MSN: same as email.

With that out of the way, some notes. Zama-sensei plays a large role in this story. However, I don't know his full name, nor could I find it on any of the information sites. So I called him Zama Ouza. I am fully aware Ouza is a go title. If anyone knows what his real name is, please let me know so I can correct it.

If anybody doesn't know/remember, Dake-san is the man who teaches Mitani a lesson about cheating in the go salon. In this story, he was Mitani's foster father for some time.

Ogata shows up in this chapter – he's obtained a larger role than originally intended. He also works with his partner, a woman some of you might recognize from another anime series. I apologize for this, I hadn't originally intended to borrow from other series, but there really aren't any strong adult females in _Hikaru no Go_. Hikaru and Touya's mothers already had other important roles, so I couldn't use them.

I understand the lettering system for the Bionics may be difficult. Therefore, I will include the list of traits and letters at the start of each chapter and a list of characters who have their traits already known at the end (so you don't have to look back to find what's what). It's actually a pretty obvious way of naming the Bionics (for the scientists who deal with them daily). This way, their name tells the scientist exactly what he or she is dealing with. The name has the gender first, then the three traits in alphabetical order.

As a sidebar, different gender Bionics with the same traits (FARS and MARS, for example), are actually clones, it's how they were made. Therefore the FARS and MARS are twins, and the MARS would be the uncle to any children of the FARS.

With this in mind, there are three sets of characters (at this point) who are relations, cousins, uncles, nephews, aunts, etc. I won't reveal who yet.

One final note. The first section takes place 5 days after the last chapter. The first time you see Waya and Kaga in this chapter takes place the day after the last chapter. Everything else is 9 days after the last chapter.

As a warning: This chapter has references to child prostitution. This does not mean I approve of it, far from it.

_Traits:_

H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))

F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale

A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)

C: **C**alculating (really really smart)

F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)

L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)

M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)

P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)

Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)

R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)

S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

_**

* * *

**_

Bionic - Survive

* * *

Mitani sat on a trashcan, waiting for Tsutsui to return. He was watching the street, but his gaze kept returning to one stocky man across the street. That guy had been watching him for the past hour, not even bothering to hide his interest. Mitani met the man's gaze before pointedly looking away. 

The man grinned and crossed the street, walking toward Mitani. Mitani watched him approach out of the corner of his eye. "Hello, little robin. Are you trying to catch a mate with your bright plumage?" He stroked Mitani's hair.

Mitani jerked his head away, scowling at the other. "Hands to yourself, old man."

The older man chuckled. "You won't get many customers with that attitude."

"What? Customers?" Mitani glared at the man. What was he talking about? Mitani was waiting for Tsutsui to return, not trying to attract customers.

The man actually laughed. At him. Mitani bristled. "You must be new, and inexperienced! How fun!"

Mitani growled slightly, very upset with the complete disrespect this man was showing him. The man just laughed again, letting his eyes trail over Mitani's body, obviously sizing him up. "A word of advice – in your line of business, it's best to make the customer happy. And if he wants to check the goods before buying," here the man put his hand on Mitani's head again, "it's best to let him."

Mitani barely contained a shudder of revulsion. "I'm not a whore!" He pushed the man's hand away with more force than was necessary.

"You sure?" The man looked Mitani over again. Mitani drew his legs up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Such a pity. Here-" the man tucked a business card into Mitani's crossed arms. "If you ever change your profession, I'll be interested." He patted Mitani's head one last time and walked off.

Mitani took the card and looked at it. _Zama Ouza, _it read, followed by an address in a high-class neighborhood. Mitani sneered at it, about to tear the card up, but he stopped. He then took a shaky breath, closed his eyes, and tucked the card into his pocket. It was a job offer. Money brought food.

"Are you all right?" Tsutsui was standing in front of Mitani. His friend looked troubled and uncomfortable. "You didn't run into the police again, did you?"

It had been five days since Kaga was taken by the police. Tsutsui and Mitani had taken to sleeping on the roof of a decently tall building, to keep away from the officers patrolling alleys at night. The police continually mentioned something called a Bionic. Tsutsui remembered how Kaga had been called a Bionic. Mitani had also been accused of being a Bionic once, several days ago. An officer had caught Mitani's arm when he was looking for a job. "You're one of those Bionic kids, aren't you?"

Mitani had managed to twist away from the police and fled. He got away by scrambling over walls and darting through small openings that the larger, heavier man could not. He ended up nursing a bruised arm that night, from where the officer had grabbed him. Yesterday, he had been pursued by a plain-clothes officer, but escaped without injury.

Tsutsui suspected it was Mitani's bright hair that led to him being recognized, but they had no means of hiding it.

Mitani shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Did you have any luck?" He and Tsutsui had been trying to find some form of employment. Their attempts had been limited though, as they couldn't apply to popular places (for fear of being seen by the police), and they were considered too young to work in most other places.

Tsutsui took off his glasses, wiping them on his shirt. "No. She was nice and polite though, saying she was terribly sorry, but they weren't looking for new workers."

Mitani wrapped his arms around his empty stomach, looking distraught. "We could steal some-"

"We're not stealing food!"

"We're going to have to!" Mitani closed his eyes and tightened his arms. "We've had half a moldy sandwich between us in the past five days. We're going to starve if we don't steal."

Tsutsui sighed. "Give it another week – we'll find something."

"It's already been five days. We're dirtier, smellier, hungrier, and tireder-"

"More tired," Tsutsui corrected quietly.

"And more tired then when we started. And each day's only going to get worse. We'll never be hired like this!"

"Don't give up," Tsutsui said. Mitani rolled his eyes and hopped off the can, starting to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"It's getting dark," Mitani said over his shoulder. "I'm looking for Kaga." He went every night to look for Kaga, combing the city in the dark.

"Good luck."

* * *

Waya woke up slowly. His head pounded, and his body ached all over. _Note to self. Don't get shot again._ He opened his eyes with a groan. 

The room he was in wasn't a familiar one, nor was it very friendly. The walls were poured cement, with the graffiti of dozens of other occupants scrawled over or scratched into them. The floor was the same. It sloped gently to a small drain in the middle of the room. In one corner was a dented metal toilet. Along one wall was a thin pad and threadbare blanket to form a makeshift bed – this was where he was laying. There was a thin barred window above the bed. Waya stood up, swaying slightly, and rose up onto tiptoe to look out the window. He saw a courtyard that seemed to be more cement and stone then living things, and there was a brick building across from the one he was in. He was a good ways up, probably third or fourth floor. A drop from this window would hurt.

Waya stepped away from the window, rubbing his arms. He was a little cold. The shirt he was wearing wasn't doing much to keep warmth in… but wait. He had been wearing a sweater… Waya looked down at himself.

His sweater was gone. So were his camouflage-print pants and his shoes and socks and boxers. He was dressed in a simple white t-shirt, albeit a very long one. It fell to his knees, and the sleeves reached his elbows. Waya looked around, but he couldn't see his clothes anywhere. Then again, he had been really bloody – maybe whoever dressed him in this just threw out his old clothes.

Waya padded over to the door, a solid metal slab with a small barred window and a flap. The window had a cover on the other side of the door. Waya tried to open it, but the door was locked. He pushed the little flap open. "Hello? Anybody there?"

No answer. Waya turned around, tugging on the hem of the shirt as if he could lengthen it. Looking around the room again, he noticed some little black cameras in the upper corners of the room. He waved at one. "Hello! Anybody?"

With a heavy sigh, Waya went and sat back on the bed. He wrapped the blanket around himself and curled up in the corner.

After a long time, which he had no way of measuring, there was a series of clicks, and then the metal door opened. Two people entered the room, both dressed in white lab coats and latex gloves. There was a blond man with glasses and a blonde woman with very long hair and crazy eyebrows. Waya looked up at them as they came in. "Who are you?"

The two didn't answer, merely studied notepads they were holding.

Waya tried again. "Where am I?"

The man handed his notepad to the woman and came over to Waya. He crouched by Waya's side and took his chin in one hand, examining his eyes. "No dilation." The woman made a note on the pad, and the man tipped Waya's head up, checking his throat.

"What are you doing?"

The man ran his fingers down Waya's throat. "Not even a mark." The woman made another note. The man then pulled the blanket away from Waya and took one of his arms. He felt Waya's pulse and looked at his watch, counting.

"What's going on?" Waya was scared now, but he tried to hide it in front of these two impassive strangers. Neither one had even so much as looked at him, except to do this examination.

"Pulse is slightly fast, but that's expected." Another note. The man pulled Waya's arm out, examining it. "Some scarring." He rubbed his finger over a not-yet-healed bullet wound.

Waya hissed slightly, jerking his arm away. "That hurt!" The woman looked up at him, then made another note.

The man just ignored him, moving down to his legs. He examined one, then the other, noting every fading scar. Waya batted his hands away when they got too high up, holding his shirt in place. "What are you doing?"

"How old are you?" The woman spoke for the first time.

Waya looked up at her, surprised to hear her voice. "Thirteen. I'm thirteen."

She wrote that down. "And your birthday?" She didn't take her eyes away from her notes.

"August 12. Why do you need to know?" The man tried to take off Waya's shirt. Waya slapped his hands. "Stop that!"

The woman set her pad down. "You hold him, I'll check."

The man caught Waya's hands. Waya struggled, but the man eventually pinned him to the bed, sitting on his legs and holding his arms above his head. "I'm sorry about this position, Dr. Catalonia."

"I'll make do." The woman, Dr. Catalonia, moved to Waya's side. She lifted his shirt and prodded at his chest. Waya blushed a bright red at being so exposed to these two, but Dr. Catalonia's touch seemed purely clinical. He felt her fingers brushing against sore places, places he knew he had been shot. "Everything looks healed. Can you turn him over?" The man managed to roll Waya onto his side. Dr. Catalonia sighed slightly. "I suppose that will have to do, Seiji."

"Dr. Ogata," the man grumbled. "I don't call you Dorothy."

Waya heard Dr. Catalonia give a light laugh, her fingers skimming along his back. "He's healed here too. You can let him go."

Ogata moved off Waya, and Waya scrambled back, pulling his shirt down. Dr. Catalonia picked up her pad, making a few notes. Ogata rose to his feet. "Finished?"

"For now."

The two scientists started for the door. Waya stood up. "Wait! What's going on? Where am I?"

Neither doctor even glanced back at Waya as they left, the door locks clicking back into place. Waya slumped onto the bed again, hanging his head. Where in the world was he?

* * *

Kaga's eyes opened slowly, tiredly. He tried to rub them, but he couldn't move his arms. He looked up in sleepy confusion, frowning as he discovered them chained above his head. They still ached from the bullet wounds, but it was nothing he couldn't easily ignore. Ignoring the rising panic was, however, much more difficult. 

He had been bandaged; he could tell that much. The dull, tingling sensation told him he must have been hanging like this for a while: although his feet touched the floor, the blood had still rushed from his wrists to his shoulders. Kaga took stock of his surroundings, finding himself to be in a strange room made almost entirely of what looked to be cement, with lots of ways to bind him embedded into the landscape of its walls.

A draft brushed Kaga's legs and he was made aware of his clothing... or rather, lack thereof. An uncomfortable sheen of blush tinted his face, imitating the prominent red highlights of his chestnut hair. In this foreign room, clad only in a white t-shirt that hung to mid-thigh, Kaga Tetsuo resembled the fourteen-year-old boy he was. He looked around furtively and found a door. One single door that he could not reach.

Kaga's brow furrowed. He tried to think, tried to recall the last moments of... Mitani. Mitani's voice. He had just watched Tsutsui get caught and hauled up by the red-haired boy before yet more policemen arrived. He had screamed at the pair to run, turned to face the police, his heart pounding in his ears but with resolution in conjunction with the fear. Mitani and Tsutsui had to be protected... It was that priority that caused Kaga to accept his hopeless fate and cause as much hell as he could to keep them from following his friends (and also for his own, personal satisfaction). When the first bullet had ripped through his flesh, he was so surprised that he just stared at the dark hole in his leg from where flowed such a dark red color that he had been mystified. He couldn't believe _that_ came from inside _him_. He couldn't believe they _shot_ him. Kaga resisted the officers, earning himself two more gunshots. He couldn't recall a time in his life where he'd felt physical pain that intense. And at some point, he had been overwhelmed.

Kaga looked down, trying to see his right thigh. But from the ache in it and his almost complete inability to operate his right leg, he knew he must not have been here for long. Wherever _here_ was. He shifted, trying to find a less painful way to stand there, but he had been arranged in a way that left him barely touching the floor, forcing him to semi-hang from his aching, abused arms. Fear was snaking around his organs, but he swallowed it down as much as he could. He'd never been afraid in his life, not really. Even fighting those bastards who had chased them, knowing he'd be caught eventually, he hadn't been afraid. Not until he heard and felt the first gunshot...

Kaga pushed those thoughts aside as the door opened. He tensed and narrowed his eyes. The fourteen year old suddenly resembled a nineteen year old, his thin and bandaged body the only link to what lay inside. Men in uniforms entered, their gazes crawling up and down him as they secured the door behind themselves.

One of them spoke, strolling easily up to him. "What's your name?"

Kaga glared, his lips pressed tightly together in a thin line of defiance.

"... Where did they go?"

When met with more silence, the man moved closer, his expression darkening. "Tell me where they are."

"Fuck. You."

Slowly, Kaga began to exert pressure on the metal cuff holding his wrist. The chain links felt soft enough. If he concentrated, he could do it.

"Unruly behavior is not tolerated here. I shall ask you one more time. Where are they?"

Kaga smirked to himself. The bastard had gotten just within range.

With a quiet grunt, Kaga snapped the chain he had been pulling thin and lashed it around like a whip. The sickening sound of bone meeting with high-speed metal echoed in the blank room. As the man fell unconscious, his body sent back a few precious feet, Kaga worked to free his other arm.

The guards were well trained, however, and were on him before he could break free. He yelled incoherently as he swung the dead weight hanging from his arm at them, trying to keep them back and hopefully take some out. They swarmed on him, ten men at least, and within seconds Kaga was breathlessly trying to hit past an impossible barrier of clubs.

He cried out in pain as they purposefully hit him full force on his bandages, rendering him helpless. The sharp, searing pain incapacitated him, his body quivering of its own accord and unresponsive to his mental screams to protect himself. He couldn't make his eyes open as countless pairs of hands, thighs and shoulder pinned him to the wall, ground into him, pummeled him. He managed to knock some of his assailants off, but it was too late. Something stabbed his neck from either side and then electricity bolted through his weakened body.

Kaga jittered uncontrollably, his eyes rolling up in his head. When they finally turned the taser off, Kaga slumped forward, hanging by an arm, completely unconscious and bleeding from various wounds. His skin was ashen.

It would only be the beginning.

* * *

"Tsutsui?" Mitani shook Tsutsui's shoulder, worried. The older boy was usually up at this hour, getting ready to start another day of job hunting. Today, however, Tsutsui just moaned slightly and turned his face away. "Tsutsui…" His own stomach growled and he covered it with an arm. Nine days since Kaga's capture. The two boys were slowly starving. 

"Just let me sleep today, Mitani. I'm so tired…" Tsutsui curled up slightly.

Mitani let his hand rest lightly on Tsutsui's shoulder. This was bad. Swallowing thickly, he slipped his other hand into his pocket and pulled out a card he had tried to ignore. "I'll be back… I'll get us food," he whispered, reading the address again. "You just stay here."

It took Mitani most of the day to find the right neighborhood and right address. By the time he stood outside the correct large house, ringing the doorbell, he was swaying slightly. He was faring only slightly better than Tsutsui – another day though, and his energy would be completely drained.

A snooty man in a suit opened the door. He looked down his nose at Mitani. "No hand-outs," he sniffed, closing the door.

"Wait!" Mitani stuck his foot in the door, wincing slightly as the man closed it on his foot. "Zama Ouza told me to come here, he gave me this…" Mitani held out the card, hoping it would let him in.

The man took the card, looking it over. He then sniffed again and opened the door wider. "We shall see. Follow me." He led Mitani to a sitting room. "Who shall I say is here?"

"Mi… Robin. Tell him his robin has come." Mitani looked at his feet, feeling terrible about all of this.

"Have a seat." The man left the room.

Mitani looked around. All of the seats were some sort of creamy off-white color. He then looked at his dirty clothes and decided against sitting. He didn't want to mess up any of Zama's stuff and make him mad.

"It is you!" Mitani whirled around to see Zama in the doorway. "What brings you to my door, little bird?"

Mitani looked down at his feet again. "I'm considering a change of profession," he mumbled.

Zama clapped his hands together. "That's wonderful! I knew you'd see it my way!"

Mitani looked up at him, eyes fierce. "But only on my terms."

"Oh?" Zama cocked his head to the side – he had never had a boy insist on his own terms before. This one was amusing. "And what terms are those?"

Mitani forced himself to keep staring Zama in the eye, so the man knew he was serious. "I will sleep with you tonight only if you give me a meal first. And I will leave by 2 AM."

Zama laughed, amused with Mitani. "Very well, I believe I can accept those terms." He walked over to Mitani, cupping his face with one hand. "What about your fee? Are you a virgin?"

Mitani glanced aside, but forced himself to not withdraw from the touch. "…no."

Zama looked a little surprised at that. "You certainly get around for such a young thing."

Mitani crossed his arms over his chest. "My past sex life is of no concern to you."

"Oh, actually, it is. I wouldn't want to get sick from you."

"I'm not sick," Mitani said. "I went through a bunch of tests and stuff afterwards, and I'm not sick."

"Have you had sex after the tests?" Mitani shook his head, and Zama smiled. "Well then, I guess that will have to do. Your fee… what about ¥5,000?" He was fully aware that ¥5,000 was really hardly anything to pay a child prostitute, but he had an idea that Mitani was too inexperienced to know any better.

Sure enough, Mitani nodded once, silently agreeing to the price. ¥5,000 was better than the nothing he had right now, and it would be more than enough to buy a decent meal for Tsutsui. Zama's smile grew. "Excellent. Now, why don't you come with me. I'll take you to the dining room, where you can have your food – you look ready to fall over."

Mitani trailed after Zama, trying not to touch anything, lest he leave smudges. He had his head down and lips pressed tightly together. _I'm sorry, Kaga, _he thought. He knew the older boy would be disgusted with this – especially since all signs indicated that Kaga wanted to get with Mitani, when he was older. _There's nothing else right now… but it's only one time. Just once._

Zama sat in a chair and patted his lap. "Come on, sit here."

Mitani hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and climbing onto Zama's lap. The man wrapped one arm around Mitani's thin waist, turning his face to kiss his cheek. Mitani closed his eyes and tried to ignore Zama.

Thankfully, the food didn't take too long to arrive. Mitani glanced to Zama to make sure it was okay for him to start before he dug in, eating as fast as he could. Zama watched him inhaling the meal for a moment, and then he turned to the snooty man, his butler. "Go prepare a bath, and then stay out of my private rooms for the rest of the night."

"Yes sir." The butler bowed and left the room. Zama turned his attention back to Mitani, stroking one hand through his hair and rubbing his thigh with the other.

Mitani choked slightly at the touch, fighting down memories of Dake-san. He had to go through with this. It was just one night. He would get through this.

"Eat slowly, little robin. The food will still be there in thirty seconds. It won't disappear, I promise." Zama kissed Mitani's chin. "After your dinner, you will take a bath."

Mitani nodded, understanding. He continued to eat, eventually slowing and finally stopping. There was still food left, but he was feeling full and content for the first time in a while. He was also rather sleepy, a food-induced stupor, and had almost managed to forget about sitting in Zama's lap.

Zama patted his leg when he set his chopsticks down. "Up, Robin. Bathtime first, and then you'll join me in my room."

Mitani slipped off of Zama's lap, dutifully following the man as he led him to the bathroom. It was too late for him to back out of this now – he had finished part of his payment.

Zama took Mitani into a large black marble bathroom. "My bedroom is right through this door," he said, pointing. "Wrap yourself in a towel and come out when you're done – and I expect a thorough cleaning. You're filthy. Take too long, however, and I'll come in to help you finish."

Mitani waited for Zama to leave the room before quickly stripping out of his clothes and climbing into the bath. He had no desire to have Zama come in and help him.

The water felt wonderful, closing around his bare skin. Mitani took a breath and ducked under completely, scrubbing at his face with his hands. He could feel the grime coming off his skin. After surfacing, he looked around for some soap.

Everything Mitani could find to wash with smelled like flowers. He wrinkled his nose at an overpowering rose-scented shampoo, and discarded a spring bouquet flavor soap. Zama did have a lot of options for his bath. Mitani eventually settled on a faint lavender scented soap and shampoo. He washed his hair and body several times each, trying to rid himself of the filth from living on a rooftop for over a week.

The bath, like the meal, was nice. Again, Mitani almost managed to forgot what he was really here to do. He actually hadn't had a bath, a true bath, since before the orphanage. St. John's was only equipped with showers.

Even the bath had to come to an end, though. When the water stopped being a nice, pleasing warmth around him, and his fingertips were pruny, Mitani pulled the drain open and reached for one of the towels. He wrapped it firmly around himself before taking a second towel and rubbing his hair dry. He then dried his body as best he could and rewrapped the towel.

Mitani took a deep breath, eyeing the door to Zama's room warily. This was it – there would be no going back once he stepped through that door. He would give his body to Zama. He hugged his arms around him, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry, Kaga," he whispered, before reaching out and opening the door.

Zama was lying on his bed, watching Mitani with eyes half-closed. "I was just about to come get you," he said. "Come here."

Mitani lifted his eyes to see Zama patting the bed beside him. The older man was already naked and aroused, lightly stroking one hand over his cock. Mitani grit his teeth and forced himself to approach the bed, holding the towel tight around him.

Zama smiled as Mitani climbed onto the bed, kneeling next to him. The boy wouldn't look at him. That would come in time. "You're my good little boy, aren't you?" He reached over, rubbing Mitani's bare shoulders. "You do everything I tell you to, don't you?"

Mitani closed his eyes. "Yes sir," he said quietly. His experience with his foster father taught him to not disagree with the man in power if he wanted the night to be as painless as possible.

Zama took Mitani's wrists in his hands, marveling momentarily at how his hand easily curled all the way around the boy's small arms. He pulled Mitani's arms away from the towel. To his pleasure, Mitani kept his arms at his sides where Zama released them. "Such a good robin." He reached up and lightly tugged at the towel, unwrapping it from Mitani's body. "Such a beautiful bird."

Mitani closed his eyes as the towel was pulled away. He felt Zama's hands on his hips, pulling him closer to the older man. Lips trailed along his throat and down his chest. Mitani bit his lip, clenching his hands into fists.

Zama lightly bit Mitani's chest, grinning as Mitani gasped and jumped. "Beautiful," he repeated, lowering Mitani back onto the bed. "Open your eyes. Look at me."

Mitani did as he was told. He stared blankly at Zama, silently begging him to just hurry up and get it over with.

Zama chuckled, reaching up to ruffle Mitani's hair as he moved over the boy.

* * *

"Tsutsui, wake up!" Tsutsui moaned slightly, feeling somebody shaking his shoulder. He turned his face away, but the person persisted. "Up, Tsutsui! I brought you food!" 

Food. At that magic word, Tsutsui opened his eyes. Mitani was crouched by his side, smelling faintly of lavender. He had a bag next to him, and was offering Tsutsui some bread. Tsutsui reached for the food, his hand shaking, and began eating. Mitani smiled, pulling more out of the bag.

"Aren't you going to eat any?" Tsutsui asked, already feeling better.

Mitani shook his head. "Not now – I already ate. This is for you."

"Where did you get this? You didn't steal it, did you?" Tsutsui paused in his consumption – he did not want to eat stolen food.

"And what if I did? You already ate half of it."

"Mitani!"

Mitani shook his head. "I ran into a foreigner, helped him find his way to where he was going. He gave me ¥5,000. I bought food, brought it back here for you."

Tsutsui frowned at Mitani. "You shouldn't lie about not stealing it – you know I don't want to resort to dishonest methods."

Mitani rolled his eyes, moving to the edge of the roof they were on. "Dishonest, honest, why does it matter so much? So long as it puts food in our stomachs, I'm happy."

Tsutsui frowned, noticing how Mitani wasn't really sitting. He had his legs folded under him and seemed to have his weight forward, over his knees. "Are you all right?"

Mitani turned his head slightly. "I'm fine." His answer was short and clipped though, and Tsutsui sensed that something was wrong.

"Mitani…"

Mitani turned back toward the cityscape. "I'm fine, Tsutsui. I'm just tired. It's been a long day – and I don't know if I'll be able to look for Kaga right now." He sounded saddened. "Do you think he's still alive?"

Tsutsui went to sit next to Mitani. "I'm sure he is." He placed a hand on Mitani's shoulder, but the younger boy shrugged it off. "They weren't shooting to kill him in the alley, they probably wanted him alive for some reason. So I'm sure he's still alive somewhere, and you'll find him, and we'll get him out."

"I miss him." Mitani's voice was quiet.

"So do I," Tsutsui said, matching Mitani's volume. "So do I."

* * *

"Let's try that one." Hikaru pointed at a go salon near a railroad station. "And double the stakes this time." 

"We don't want to be noticed…" Touya said, wringing his hands. "¥5,000 a game is risky as it is…"

"We're not _cheating, _Touya. They're not going to call the police on us."

Hikaru and Touya had found a good source of income – betting on go games. They had gone into their first go salon two days after running from the police. Hikaru had asked if the entrance fee could be waived if he could beat the strongest player at the salon. The owner had agreed, and Sai proceeded to completely dominate the game. Since Touya had come with Hikaru, he was allowed to play for free too. They started betting on the outcomes, ¥5,000 a game. Neither Sai nor Touya lost that day.

The next day, they went to a different salon, this time with the funds to pay the entrance fee. Again, they bet ¥5,000 a game. Again, they were undefeated.

They did this every day, moving from salon to salon, and making enough money to survive on. They stayed at youth hostels and managed to avoid the police. Touya called himself Shindou Akira to keep people from recognizing the Touya name, and the two passed as brothers wherever they went.

Hikaru strode into the salon first, looking around with a grin on his face. Touya slipped in right behind him, looking slightly uneasy.

"Welcome!" the woman behind the counter said. "Children are ¥500." She had a bright smile, but it was quickly faltering as she saw and stared at Touya. "A-Akira-kun?"

Touya looked up at the woman, a slightly puzzled look on his face. She looked familiar… "Ichikawa-san?" he guessed.

Ichikawa rushed around the counter, catching Akira in a tight hug. "Akira-kun! Akira-kun! You're here!"

"Hey! Let go of him!" Hikaru was alarmed. The way this woman was holding Touya… if she was unfriendly toward Bionics, then Touya was effectively trapped.

Sai set one hand on Hikaru's shoulder. **It's all right, Hikaru. This is Ichikawa Harumi, from the second batch. She is a Bionic too – FARS.**

Hikaru's eyes widened as he stared at Ichikawa. This was the first living Bionic he had ever seen outside of the dome.

Touya hugged Ichikawa back. He had forgotten about this place. His father used to take him here, saying, _This is my sanctuary, Akira. It shall be yours too. If you ever feel threatened, you can come here, and nobody will be able to hurt you._

Thinking back on it, Touya wondered if his father had been talking about just personal troubles, as he had thought at the time, or if he was trying to tell him that Bionics were safe here, without actually telling him about Bionics.

**Ask her if her go improved, Hikaru. Tell her that Sai would love to play a teaching game with her, if she wants to.**

"Um… Ichikawa-san? Has your go improved? Sai would love to play a teaching game with you, if you want to…" Hikaru still wasn't all that convinced that this woman could be trusted.

Ichikawa released Touya and turned to look at Hikaru, her eyes wide. "Sai? Fujiwara no Sai?"

Hikaru nodded.

"Everything all right, Icchan?" One of the patrons of the salon looked concerned, several others were looking their way.

Ichikawa laughed happily. "Oh, yes, everything's fine! I just met two old friends who I haven't seen in a very long time!" She stroked Touya's cheek before straightening up. "Why don't you two go play? We can talk after the salon closes, at five."

With nothing better to do, Hikaru and Touya went off to play. They played each other several times, and Touya and Sai played some of the customers, but nobody at this salon had any interest in betting on the games – they were just there to have fun. One man even asked Touya if he had learned go from studying Touya Meijin's kifu, as their styles were rather similar. Touya had smiled happily, saying that yes, Touya Meijin was his favorite player, and he hoped one day to stand on top of the go world as the Meijin had.

Hikaru listened quietly. Touya didn't seem to fully understand the danger they were in – standing on top of the go world would likely never happen. Hikaru himself would be happy with just being able to walk down the street without attempts to capture him being made.

* * *

"This is interesting…" Dorothy murmured, studying a graph. "There is a slight decay to the swiftness of his recovery period." 

"It's also understandable," Ogata replied, glancing at his own copy. "The first break took thirty seconds to heal. The arm was then rebroken ten minutes later. The second break took about forty seconds. Again, rebroken after ten minutes. The third break took fifty-five seconds." He shrugged. "Very little recovery time was given between the breaks for the body to adjust to the pain of a broken arm and the energy required to continually heal the arm. Slight increases in recovery period are expected."

"Hmm…" Dorothy picked up another graph, the most recent. "How many times has this experiment been run now?"

"This appears to be the thirtieth break."

Dorothy pursed her lips before turning and looking through a one-way mirror. On the other side was a 5x5 room with sterile white ceramic tile covering every surface. Waya was curled up in one corner, tears on his face, as he clutched his right arm against his chest, trying to protect it. Several large security guards were in the room with him. It was their job to break his right arm every ten minutes. Dorothy nodded once, turning to a speaker system set up between the rooms. "Take it back to its cell," she told the guards. "We are finished for now."

"Feeling sympathy?" Ogata glanced up from the sheets to study his female partner. "It's frowned upon. You may end up the way of Sato."

Dorothy tossed her blond hair. "How can one feel sympathy for a creation of mankind? I'm not crazy like Sato. I merely realize that if we continued our testing, we may flaw our data for the very reasons you gave – the body needs more than ten minutes to recover."

Ogata smirked. "If you say so, Dr. Catalonia."

"You doubt me?" Dorothy arched one of her forked eyebrows, staring coolly at Ogata.

"You're a female," Ogata pointed out. "It's a child. Maternal instinct and all that. Surely you can't say you don't feel some sympathy for the creature – imagine if it were your own son."

Dorothy laughed. "You never fail to amuse me. Me, having a child! The very idea is preposterous – it's like asking you to give up smoking!" She turned back to the printouts, a smile still lingering on her face. "We'll run this again tomorrow, see where his initial recovery time is. If it's fallen back to thirty seconds, we'll try two breaks at a time for the next session."

_

* * *

Identified Bionics:_

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?

Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR

Hong Su-Yeong- HMQ?

Ichikawa Harumi - FARS

Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?

Kaga Tetsuo - HMS?

Ko Yong-Ha - HML?

Kurata Atsushi- HMP?

Mitani Yuuki - HMF?

Saeki Kouji - HMMP?

Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR

Shindou Matsuo - MACP

Shindou Mitsuko - FCPR

Touya Akiko - FCMP

Touya Akira - HMCMP

Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?

Waya Yoshitaka - HMR?

? - FCLR

(I HATE FORMATTING WHY CAN'T I HAVE MULTIPLE QUESTION MARKS OR SPACES? WHY?)

For those of you who didn't recognize Dorothy Catalonia, she is a very interesting character from Gundam Wing. She does have very unusual eyebrows, and actually meshes very well with Ogata. She's slightly disturbing and loves war and conflict. She also falsely flatters people and works her way into positions of power. She's not a woman you want to cross.

Tri-stripe, K, and ano-nime, seeing that all three of you reviewed the last chapter really made my day. Thank you for making me smile. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope I don't disappoint you in future chapters. For the three of you, I will do my best to force myself to see this story through to an end, rather than let it die like a few of my other multi-part stories.

Tri: Tranquilizers… #evil grin# And yes, Waya and Kaga have got it bad, and will continue getting it bad. Rule one of an angst fangirl: Hurt the ones you love (in fiction).

K: … you know, rereading your review to write this response, I realized something about Kuwabara that makes a few more things click.

I'm not going to reveal it though (yet):P

I hope you do turn out to be more like Touya and Kuwabara then like Dorothy or Ogata. And here are the headmasters, all trussed up nicely for you. You may find that they're the lesser evils in this world, with a few more chapters. Enjoy torturing them, though.

Ano-nime: Getting rid of their problems only leaves room for new ones. Worse ones. I think these boys may end up regretting ever leaving the orphanage.

Crawler


	5. Life Part One

I'm sorry, everyone, this chapter is not the length I wanted it to be. There are two reasons behind that.

1) It was finals week. I had little to no time to write these past two weeks or so.

2) It's go-go-go day! (go 5 in Japan, 05/05/05). I wanted to add something to the HNG fandom on this day… the next all-fives day is going to be in 50 _years_. I'm not waiting that long.

So, finals are over, and I should have plenty of time to write this summer.

Let's take a moment of silence for our favorite go-playing ghost, Sai. May he achieve the hand of god.

_Traits:_

H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))

F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale

A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)

C: **C**alculating (really really smart)

F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)

L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)

M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)

P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)

Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)

R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)

S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

**_

* * *

_**

Bionic – Life - Part One

* * *

After locking up the go salon for the night, Ichikawa smiled at the two boys and beckoned for them to follow her. She led them through a door concealed by a bookshelf full of kifu and into a small apartment. It consisted of a small sitting area/kitchen and two doors leading to other rooms.

"This is my home," Ichikawa said. "My room's there, that room's an empty guest room. They're connected by a bathroom. It's not very big, but it's comfortable, and hidden."

"Do you have trouble with police?" Hikaru sat on one of Ichikawa's chairs, folding his legs under him. Sai perched on the back of the chair, and Touya sat on the floor in front of Hikaru.

Ichikawa moved around in the kitchen, making tea. "Not anymore, not really. About fifteen years ago, the scientists recruited the police to help them round up the escaped Bionics." She looked sad as she brought the pot of tea and several cups to the boys. "As far as I know, they were successful, killing or catching all but me."

"Is this place really safe?" Touya asked softly, accepting a cup of tea with a grateful smile.

"As safe as can be expected," Ichikawa replied. "If I'm quiet, nobody suspects I live back here. And I'm definitely strong enough to hold the door against anyone who tries to break in, and my regenerative properties allow me to not be as affected by wounds." She sipped from her tea, taking the other chair in the room, contemplating something. "Akira-kun, if you don't mind me asking, where have you been these past years?"

"I've been at an orphanage," Touya said, looking into his tea. "St. John's."

"How did you survive the crash?"

"I wasn't on the plane." Touya swirled his cup, watching the liquid spin. "I wasn't feeling well, so I was put in the care of a sitter – Mother and Father didn't want to take me overseas if I was going to be throwing up the entire trip."

"Logical," Ichikawa murmured. "Very… eh, how much of the story do you know?"

"I told him about the idea and the growing and Dr. Sato's involvement and the rebellion," Hikaru said. "And about me."

"Yes… you said your name was Shindou. Your parents are Matsuo and Mitsuko, correct?" Ichikawa sighed, setting her teacup down. "It's wonderful to meet you, and to see that two Bionics can in fact have a child… but at the same time, I'm disgusted that the scientists took it so far as to control the breeding of the Bionics." She shook her head, to clear her mind. "Anyway… yes. Leaving you with a sitter when you were sick is a very Sato-like thing to do. Your father was an amazing man, Akira-kun, but he did have a tendency to think a bit too practically and scientifically about things." She smiled at Touya. "Where are you living now?" When Hikaru and Touya exchanged an uneasy, _Not really sure..., _glance, Ichikawa just nodded. "You ran away from the orphanage, didn't you? Well, you two could live here, with me, if you'd like. I have an extra room – it was actually meant to be for your parents, Akira-kun, but I'm sure you and Shindou-kun would find it adequate, if you don't mind sharing."

"Oh no, we don't mind at all," Touya said. "We shared a room back at the orphanage, it should be fine."

"Excellent! Now, about that game Sai offered…" Ichikawa pulled out a foldable goban with a flourish. "Is he up for it now?"

* * *

"How's he doing?" Kurata asked Saeki, peering down at Ashiwara.

"_He's _doing fine," Ashiwara replied. "As fine as can be expected, at least."

"You sound cranky, Ashiwara. It's not like you to be cranky." Kurata blinked round eyes at Ashiwara, merely making an observation.

Ashiwara sighed and pressed his cheek against Saeki's hand. His lover had been silently stroking his face while Kurata talked. "I'm sorry, Kurata. I am cranky… I hate being so helpless."

"We're both helpless," Kurata pointed out. "Isumi's the only one who can do anything."

Ashiwara glanced off to the side where Isumi's figure could barely be made out, hunched over in a corner. "How much longer?" he asked softly. "How much longer will he stay with us?"

"He really loved Waya," Kurata replied, just as quietly. "And Waya would have wanted him to stay alive."

"But that's not living." Ashiwara turned his face away from Isumi. "That's surviving. Isumi's body exists, but his heart is gone." Saeki twirled a lock of Ashiwara's hair in his fingers, and Ashiwara reached up with his uninjured arm to hold Saeki's hand. "You're hardly living too, Kouji."

"I killed." Saeki's voice was hoarse, as he rarely used it these past weeks. "I don't deserve to live."

"They killed first. Waya. And you gave him plenty of opportunities to run off and survive. It's not your fault."

"We've been over this." Kurata turned away from the pair, moving to their food stash. "Countless times. And we get the same result each time. There's nothing we could have done to save Waya. There's nothing we could have done to avoid killing that one officer. Not if we wanted to escape with what lives we were able to spare." He poked through the boxes of food. "Isumi, we're out of chocolate."

"Chocolate isn't necessary, don't make him go out."

"We need chocolate to keep our morals high. They're already sagging. Isumi, could you…?" Kurata let his sentence hang. A moment later, Isumi unfolded his lanky form and climbed to his feet. He melted through the wall, head down, shoulders slumped.

"Kurata, really, chocolate's not necessary!"

"No, but getting Isumi moving is." Kurata sighed, pulling a dry carrot from the box and biting it. "If we don't keep sending him out on small odd jobs, getting exercise and fresh air, he'll probably just give up and die in his corner, and we wouldn't even know. He needs to see how life goes on, even without Waya."

The four boys had been hiding in this abandoned warehouse for close to two weeks now. It had been securely sealed after the decision was made to tear it down, but nobody had bothered to actually destroy it in fifty years. The police had no reason to suspect it was the new home of four extraordinary orphans, one of whom could walk right through the walls.

Isumi, with Ashiwara's help, had brought the boys in, but then Ashiwara was confined to bed rest by Saeki and Kurata, as neither wanted to see his shoulder wound take a turn for the worse. As a result, Isumi was the only one who had been outside since they moved in. He would run errands for the group, bringing food and supplies back to the building. When he was not performing a task given to him, he would curl up in the darkest corner of the room (it was lit by a handful of flashlights and a stolen supply of batteries) and mourn Waya's passing. Not even Ashiwara could coax words from him anymore.

Saeki wasn't much better. He had fallen into silence, a sort of self-punishment, for killing the officer who had shot Ashiwara. He did little more than sit by Ashiwara's side, stroking his face or holding him while he slept.

Ashiwara was rapidly growing sick of his confinement to bed. He wanted to get up and move around, to go outside and see the sun again, or even to be allowed to use the bathroom without Saeki trailing after him. He was only shot in the shoulder, it wasn't like he was going to fall over!

Kurata seemed to have taken charge of the group. He seemed to have the best grasp of what was going on, and had told the other three how his intuition had shown him images of some of the other escapees, like Kaga and Waya, being tortured after being captured by the police. He claimed they had been glimpses of a possible future. While Waya had died, there was a chance Kaga had been captured, as well as the others. He had not, however, seen anything of any use since that day.

Together, in a dim room, the four existed, trying to come up with a plan on how to thrive with this new world they were exposed to.

* * *

Kaga hung limply from his chains, eyes closed, his breath coming slow and painfully. Yet another beating had left him dazed and aching. It seemed like he could barely pass a day without the guards entering his cell.

"Psst!"

There was a sound above him, but Kaga didn't bother to even lift his head. There really wasn't a point to look up. Not yet, at least. If it was important, it would be more insistent.

"Kaga! Kaga-chan!" He felt his fingers being tickled, and his eyes widened as his brain registered the words. Only one person called him Kaga-chan and got away with it, and even that was rare.

"What the hell are you doing here, Mitani?" Kaga still didn't lift his head, and he kept his voice quiet. There was a chance the guards were watching him with their cameras, and he didn't want to seem suspicious in their eyes.

Mitani ran his finger over Kaga's once more before pulling back. He was hanging upside down outside the window, his legs curled over a pipe conveniently running over Kaga's window. There wasn't any room to be right side up, not if he wanted to be able to see Kaga. "I'm looking for you, baka! What do you think I'm doing, stopping by for tea and cookies?"

Kaga bristled. His chains clinked slightly as he shifted. "Get out of here, Mitani. It's not safe. If they catch you…" He didn't want to even think of the possibility of Mitani in the hands of these people.

Mitani's laugh was quiet. "They'd have to catch me first, Kaga. This place has so many pipes and bars… it's just a giant jungle gym for me, but it'll be pure torture for them to manipulate through. I'm safe."

"Guns, Mitani? They can shoot?"

"They'd have to aim, and by the time they do, I'd have moved on. Come on, Kaga, you know what I'm capable of. Give me some credit – I got in without any problems, didn't I?"

"Mitani…" Kaga's voice was low and exasperated. Despite his frustration with Mitani, he was inwardly ecastic just to hear the boy's voice again. He'd had no way of knowing if Mitani and Tsutsui had gotten away, or if they had been killed, or captured. Mitani talking to him through the window was proof that Mitani, at least, had escaped. "Is Tsutsui safe?"

Mitani nodded, then realized Kaga wouldn't have seen it. "Yeah, Tsutsui's safe. Relatively speaking. As safe as he can be at this point, without me around."

"Go back to him."

Mitani scoffed, running his fingers around the bars on Kaga's window, studying them. "Not until I figure out how to get you out of here."

"Don't, Mitani…"

"Don't free you? Even _I_ won't follow that order, Kaga."

Kaga closed his eyes, fighting the urge to look up, to see the face of one of his closest friends, to confirm with his own eyes that Mitani was indeed as alive and well as he sounded. "Mitani, just go. Now." There was a long silence. Mitani wasn't answering, but he made no sounds of departure either. "Mitani… I sacrificed my freedom so you and Tsutsui could get away. Are you going to make my sacrifice be in vain?"

"I _will _get you out," Mitani said, his voice fierce with his determination.

Kaga smiled weakly as he heard the softest rustle of fabric. When he finally did look up, Mitani was gone. "Stay safe," he whispered.

* * *

"That's them?"

"Yes."

"Don't look like much."

"The black-haired one's _fast_."

"Lots of kids are fast."

"Not this fast."

"And what about the tall one?"

"No idea. He doesn't seem to have Bionic abilities, but that could just mean he has psychic abilities, or be one of the calculating ones. His mind could be dangerous, and we wouldn't know until it's too late."

"Well then, we'll just have to strike first."

"Got him!"

"Quick, get the little one, while he's still surprised, before he runs!"

"Two down, none to go. We're looking at a nice promotion."

"..."

"…"

"What the hell did you put in that gun?"

"It's just a tranquilizer! I swear!"

"Tranquilizers don't cause these seizures!"

"Hold him!"

"You hold him!"

The two officers who had tracked down Ko Yong-Ha and Hong Su-Yeong now stood over the boys, watching in shock as the Koreans had violent seizures. Their mission had been to capture these two and knock them out with tranquilizers, then bring them back to the labs. Neither were expecting the boys to writhe on the ground, pain written across their faces. Su-Yeong's eyes were closed, but Yong-Ha stared up at the men as he seized, his eyes wide and accusing.

Yong-Ha was the first to still, his body suddenly going limp. He still stared at the men, but his eyes were glassy and dull. Su-Yeong fell still moments later. The officers exchanged a worried glance before one knelt and checked their pulses.

He found none.

* * *

"I can count your every rib." Zama ran his fingers along Mitani's bare chest.

Mitani said nothing, his eyes open (at Zama's request), but staring off to the side of him.

Zama moved his hands down, petting Mitani's hips. "You're very bony for a pre-teen." Mitani still didn't respond. Zama sighed, wrapping his arms around the boy and pulling him close. "I'm concerned, Robin. This is the third time in slightly over a month that you've come to my door, filthy and starving. Not that I'm complaining – I get to spend these nights with you – but I'm worried for your well-being. Do you have a home?"

"My private life is none of your business." Mitani's voice was flat, emotionless, and his eyes were carefully masked and slanted away from Zama.

Zama turned Mitani so they lay chest to chest, and ran his hand along Mitani's back. "I can feel every individual bone in your spine, and your face is becoming sunken. You're starting to resemble a withered old man, and not the vibrant youth I know you can be. _You are starving_, my beautiful bird, wasting away, for no reason."

"I will not move in with you." This was the third time Mitani had laid in Zama's embrace. ¥5,000 did not feed two growing boys for very long, even with the thrifty Tsutsui budgeting carefully. They would go without food for a week or so after the money ran out before Mitani would return to Zama's house, offering himself just one more time. Each time, Zama would feed and bathe him, then offer to share his house as he held Mitani close.

Zama sighed again. "I really wish you would, so I know you are safe." He kissed Mitani, trying to coax a response from the small mouth. But Mitani did no more than part his lips. He didn't return the kiss, merely allowed Zama to kiss him. It was frustrating, really. And yet, he could not seem to get enough of this boy. "What if…"

"No."

"You haven't even heard my suggestion."

"If it involves me spending more time with you, then I refuse."

"Come see me every night."

"No."

"And I will double your fee."

"…"

Zama smiled. "¥10,000 a night. Seven nights a week. You'll be taking home ¥70,000 a _week_."

_And be left too sore to do anything except curl up in bed and pray Tsutsui and Kaga don't find out what's going on. I don't think so._ "No."

"You were more hesitant that time." Zama stroked Mitani's back again. "Which means you must have considered it, even for a moment. What if… what if I give you Mondays and Fridays off?" Zama could feel Mitani's breath, steady and warm against his chest as the boy debated with himself. He raised one hand, stroking Mitani's hair. "It could be worse, you know. I feed you. I bathe you. I do not beat you or chain you to the bed or force you to do humiliating things. I merely make love to you, and pay you for it."

Mitani closed his eyes. _What you do to me can hardly be called love… but it _could_ be worse. At least, with you, I know what to expect._ "Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays off," he said quietly. "And you don't pressure me to move in with you. And I still leave by 2."

"Only three days a week?"

"I am only human," Mitani replied. "And, in case you didn't notice, there is a large size difference between us. No matter how careful you are, I still need time to recover."

Zama chuckled, tilting Mitani's face up again to kiss him. "Very well. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, you are mine… but I only pay you ¥7,500 a night."

Mitani let Zama kiss him, a heavy weight on his chest. If he said no, he and Tsutsui would continue their lives as they were now, with hunger a constant ache in their stomachs and cold quickly creeping up on them, as winter neared. But if he said yes… if he said yes, maybe they could afford to get a roof over their heads and walls around them, and regular meals… and he'd officially be a whore. And Kaga would kill him. But they wouldn't be hungry, or cold… "I will agree to that, but only if I am allowed to quit at any time."

Zama laughed again, rolling Mitani onto his back and getting up on all fours over him. "Of course, Robin. I will even pay you ¥7,500 for this night, and you will return on Tuesday."

Mitani opened his eyes, staring straight at Zama as he took a shaky breath. "I agree," he whispered, feeling his heart shrivel in his chest. His body now belonged to this man.

_

* * *

Identified Bionics:_

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?

Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR

Hong Su-Yeong - HMQ?

Ichikawa Harumi - FARS

Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?

Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPS

Ko Yong-Ha - HML?

Kurata Atsushi - HMP?

Mitani Yuuki - HMF?

Saeki Kouji - HMMP?

Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR

Shindou Matsuo - MACP

Shindou Mitsuko- FCPR

Touya Akiko - FCMP

Touya Akira - HMCMP

Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?

Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLR

Waya's Mother - FCLR

Yes, there will be more soon. Again, I'm sorry.

And yes… I did kill Hong Su-Yeong and Ko Yong-Ha. Apparently, there is something about the mix of human and Bionic genes that reacts negatively when the common types of tranquilizers are used. In large doses – enough to tranquilize someone – the reaction is fatal.

ano-nime, thank you for replying.

Crawler


	6. Life Part Two

Here's the second part of Chapter Five. Consider it a late birthday present from me to you. I'm sorry for thewait, and for the short chapter.

_Traits:_

C#: **C**lone, and then the number of the clone

H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))

F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale

A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)

C: **C**alculating (really really smart)

F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)

L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)

M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)

P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)

Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)

R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)

S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

_**

* * *

**_

Bionic – Life – Part 2

* * *

Ogata entered the security office, where each wall was covered in vid-screens, each displaying the view from a different camera. A grouping of four screens showed his half-Bionic, HMCLR, curled up in a corner of its cell, a blanket pulled around its small body. Dr. Catalonia sat near those monitors, writing something in her notebook. To the left, a couple guards were laughing as they watched the other half-Bionic the scientists had captured.

Wondering what was so funny about a captured half-Bionic, Ogata looked over. He wished he hadn't. The scene on another four monitors seemed to be from some porno. No less then five guards were in the other half-Bionic's cell. "What is _that_?"

Dr. Catalonia glanced over at his disturbed voice. "One generally calls that "fucking," Doctor," she replied, a hint of amusement on her face.

"It's rape," Ogata replied bluntly.

"It's not like it's human." Dorothy's response was cool. "Besides, it's beautiful, and can't say no."

"It looks like it tried." Ogata gestured to the chains, tasers, and metal clubs being used to keep the strong half-Bionic under control while the guards had their "fun." "With that much restraint – the half-Bionic could be severely damaged! That's government property-"

"And I authorized it." Gokiso, the scientist assigned to HMCPS, the half-Bionic in question, came into the room. "We're making an attempt to break its spirit. That creature is too feisty to test – its mind needs to be broken before the abilities of its body can be accurately measured."

"Let me remind you, Dr. Ogata, that these are not human children you see before you, but half-Bionics, nothing more than tools in the hands of humanity. They may show life, but they are hardly equal to humans."

Ogata was silent as Gokiso went to look at HMCLR with Dorothy. "So this is yours, eh?"

Dorothy nodded once. "Yes. HMCLR shows remarkable healing abilities – better even then the full-blooded Bionics with similar talents. His recovery times, however, have been increasing."

"Dr. Catalonia and I believe that HMCLR's mood affects its recovery," Ogata said. "If anything, HMCLR seems to have become depressed. Its mood darkens each day, and its recovery time subsequently goes up. We have yet to find a method to test this hypothesis-"

"Fuck it," Gokiso said with a shrug. "That'll drastically change its mood, and, if recovery time really does depend on mood, then its recovery time should drastically change too. And it keeps the creature's guards content."

Ogata stared at Dorothy, who merely shrugged. "He has a point."

Ogata closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Once. Just once. One person, one time, for scientific purposes only."

"As the doctor ordered." Dorothy smirked as she turned back to her notepad. This would be interesting…

* * *

Sixth batch Bionics were supposed to be submissive and obedient. So was seventh batch, eight batch – all the way through twelfth batch.

But Bionics were made by humans. Humans weren't perfect. There were bound to be some mistakes.

Yang Hai (MCFL) counted himself among those mistakes. He was a twelfth batch Bionic, and played the role of a stupid slave each day to keep from attracting unwanted attention (and reeducation). He was _so _good at playing dumb that he had even been trusted to feed the clones.

There were currently ten clones in the Tokyo Science Facilities, ranging in appearance from three to nine years old. There had been twelve clones until the most recent testing, where the oldest two had died in the middle of an experiment (the scientists, not wanting a repeat of the incident that had resulted in the deaths of two half-Bionics, were trying to come up with a tranquilizer that wasn't fatal to half-Bionics. Clones of a captured half-Bionic were the perfect lab rats). They hadn't been replaced yet.

Yang Hai set the trays of specially engineered Rapid Growth food in front of each clone, offering them friendly smiles. They just stared back at him with sad, unblinking golden eyes, and began eating slowly.

Yang Hai didn't blame them. Their lives were limited to a small 5x5x5 box. He would be the only living thing they saw until they had the bodies of 10 year olds and the tests began.

Yang Hai shook his head before entering the last cell. This clone was another mistake. C13HMCLR, affectionately dubbed "Le Ping" by Yang Hai, wasn't listless and sad. He ran around his box when he was alone, and he squeezed all the air out of Yang Hai's lungs when the older Bionic came in with his meals.

Le Ping refused to eat if he couldn't sit in Yang Hai's lap at the same time. He once told Yang Hai that this was just a ruse to keep the other around for as long as possible – he hated being cooped up alone. To the scientists, Le Ping's speech was no more than meaningless sounds, but the linguistic Yang Hai had picked up the meanings behind the chirps and growls, and he sometimes could even communicate with the clone.

Usually, during meals, Yang Hai would hold Le Ping in his lap and stroke his hair while telling him about the outside world – or at least the replica of it contained in the Bionics' dome. Today, however, Yang Hai described a detailed floor plan of the building they were in – namely the easiest way to sneak from this cell to an exit. Le Ping listened, eating slowly to give Yang Hai plenty of time to explain things. The food ran out shortly after Yang Hai finished. With one last ruffle of Le Ping's hair, Yang Hai chirped, _Good luck, _and left the cell. He closed the door carefully, making sure it didn't click locked, and he didn't look back.

With the death of those other two clones, Le Ping was now the oldest, and therefore next in line for testing. Yang Hai would rather never see the boy again then have to carry his body out of an experiment room.

Behind him, Le Ping carefully pushed the door open and made his escape.

* * *

"Another foreigner, Mitani?"

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Tsutsui." Mitani set the food next to Tsutsui and retired to the other side of the roof.

"Where did you get this?"

"I bought it."

"And where did you get the money?" Mitani didn't answer. Tsutsui tried again. "Did you steal it?"

"I didn't steal it." Mitani's voice was quiet, his back to Tsutsui.

"Then were did you get it?" Tsutsui crossed the roof and sat next to Mitani. "If it's not stolen…" He placed a hand on Mitani's hunched shoulders, feeling the younger boy tense and try to pull away. "Mitani?" He bent his head, peering beyond Mitani's bright hair. To his shock, there was a tear running down Mitani's cheek. Mitani never cried. "Mitani! What happened? How did you get this money?"

Mitani just shook his head, turning away from Tsutsui. Tsutsui did not accept this response. He caught Mitani's arm, pulling him into a hug. "What's going on?" Mitani didn't pull away, but he didn't relax against Tsutsui either. Tsutsui took a deep breath, trying to think of how to deal with this. He frowned, sniffing the air. "Lavender?"

Tsutsui knew he had hit a sore spot when Mitani stiffened further and attempted to pull away. Tsutsui didn't let him, though. "Mitani, why do you smell like lavender?"

"I…"

"Mitani, tell me. Where did you get the money?"

Mitani hid his face in Tsutsui's shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was muffled. "I'm a whore."

Tsutsui took a deep breath. Mitani didn't mean that. He was just cutting himself down. "Don't say that about yourself, Mitani. Just tell me where you got the money. As long as you didn't steal it, I won't be mad at you."

"I'm a whore," Mitani repeated. "A prostitute. A slut. A male mistress to a rich fat guy. I spread my legs for a meal and a paltry fee to keep us both alive a few more days."

As Mitani spoke, Tsutsui could hear the self-loathing growing in his voice. "What about Kaga?" he asked, saying the first thing on his mind.

Mitani clenched his hands in Tsutsui's shirt and shook his head. "He doesn't know. I haven't told him – and don't you tell him either!"

"He'll be furious," Tsutsui said, running a variety of job possibilities through his mind. There just _had_ to be a way to keep Mitani out of strangers' beds.

"I know," Mitani whispered. "But if I don't, we starve."

"No, there's another option, there has to be!"

"It's too late." Mitani turned his face aside, resting his cheek against Tsutsui's shoulder. "I agreed to sleep with him Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, for ¥7,500 a night, from now on."

Tsutsui wrapped his arms around Mitani, marveling at how small he seemed. "You shouldn't be having sex! You're only twelve."

"Thirteen," Mitani whispered. "It's my birthday today."

_

* * *

Identified Bionics:_

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?

Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR

Hong Su-Yeong - HMQ?

Ichikawa Harumi - FARS

Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?

Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPS

Ko Yong-Ha - HML?

Kurata Atsushi - HMP?

Le Ping - C13HMCLR

Mitani Yuuki - HMF?

Saeki Kouji - HMMP?

Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR

Shindou Matsuo - MACP

Shindou Mitsuko- FCPR

Touya Akiko - FCMP

Touya Akira - HMCMP

Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?

Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLR

Waya's Mother - FCLR

Yang Hai - MCFL

The reason this took so long was because I had promised my friend Clees some Kaga rapage in return for a short Kaga/Mitani she had written for me. Except… as you can see… I kinda didn't write Kaga rapage. I just hinted at it. VV I can write just about anything else, but hardcore sex scenes… it just doesn't work.

IF there is anyone out there who writes smut well and would be interested in helping me, I would appreciate the addition of a lemony co-writer. If not… no detailed sex. Unless I get in a funky mood. Which does happen occasionally… but the results usually aren't all that great.

Anyway – Le Ping is the 13th clone of Waya. He looks like he's 9 years old, he speaks his own made-up language… and he's just escaped the lab and is free in the world.

Tri-stripe – here's the rest of Chapter 5. Hopefully, Chapter 6 doesn't take that long to write.

SGL – it's nice to see you. I'm glad you're enjoying this so far.

Ano-nime – I'm not sure if you got my response, but of course, I love to get emails from people. I actually got the Yang Hai/Le Ping idea from the one you sent me already. Thank you for the inspiration!

Crawler


	7. Beginnings

Before anything else, I give a huge thank you to all of you who reviewed almost immediately and to the four of you who reviewed within the past few days – it really was a wake-up call that I've been neglecting this story. I'm so sorry about that!

If there's anything that seems overly confusing about this story or just a bit _off_, _PLEASE _let me know. I could be making it vague on purpose, or, more likely than not, I could be forgetting to put in something that I have in my mind but haven't yet put out for you to see. Thank you for helping me in that way.

_Traits:_  
C#: **C**lone, and then the number of the clone  
H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))  
F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale  
A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)  
C: **C**alculating (really really smart)  
F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)  
L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)  
M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)  
P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)  
Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)  
R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)  
S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

**_

* * *

_**

**_Bionic - Beginnings_**

**_

* * *

_**

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ashiwara looked around, as if he could see the sound Isumi was referring to.

"That crying. I think it's over here…" Isumi slipped into a dark park, Ashiwara close behind.

The two had been sneaking through the city, walking into supermarkets and lifting the food they would need for the next few weeks. They did their "shopping" at night, so the darkness could give them some small cover. On their way back to the old warehouse, they had passed a small park. Isumi now stood under one of its three scraggly trees. "I could have sworn it was here," Isumi murmured.

Ashiwara placed a hand on Isumi's shoulder. "Isumi, it's good to see you taking an interest in the world again, but we probably should get this food back to Saeki and Kurata."

Isumi shook his head, looking up at the tree. "But it sounded like-" Frightened gold eyes stared back at him, rendering him momentarily speechless. "Like Waya," he finished, his voice a hoarse whisper.

Ashiwara looked up too, spotting the boy in the tree. True, he had an uncanny resemblance to Waya, but Ashiwara had seen Waya killed with his own eyes. "Isumi, that can't be Waya."

Isumi just ignored Ashiwara, easily climbing the tree and sitting on the same branch as the boy.

* * *

Le Ping backed away from the boy on his branch, scrubbing tears off his cheeks with the back of his hand. This person was a stranger, and most strangers Le Ping had encountered in the past few days were mean and had yelled at him. This boy, however, was talking in a soft voice, and he smiled at Le Ping like Yang Hai had.

Hesitantly, Le Ping crawled along the branch. He placed one hand on the other person's leg, watching his face to see if this was okay. The other boy responded by placing one of his hands in Le Ping's hair, another thing Yang Hai had done. Le Ping smiled weakly at him, climbing into his lap and wrapping his arms around the other's neck.

* * *

The moment the boy climbed into Isumi's lap, he knew he wasn't holding Waya. This boy was too small. He didn't feel right in Isumi's arms, and he smelled wrong, like antiseptics and latex gloves. Still, he had Waya's face, Waya's hair, and Waya's unusual gold eyes. And he was scared. Isumi held the boy close, wondering if Waya had a brother or if he had been cloned and just never told Isumi. 

"Isumi! We should go – you can bring him along, but we really need to get back!"

Isumi stroked the boy's hair. "Do you want to come home with me?"

The boy just stared blankly at him. Isumi sighed and moved the boy out of his lap. He climbed out of the tree, hearing the boy making distressed sounds. When he reached the ground, he held his arms toward the other. "Come on down." The boy made another distressed sound, his fingers kneading the branch he knelt on, before he shakily got to his feet and jumped toward Isumi.

"Oof!" Isumi caught the boy and hugged him before setting him down. He gave the boy a bag with some of the food he and Ashiwara had taken, and took the boy's other hand. He then picked up the rest of the groceries and smiled at him again. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

Kuwabara frowned slightly as he looked around the cell of the half-Bionic HMCLR. At first glance, he couldn't see the boy that was supposed to be here, but a more thorough look revealed a slightly shivering mass wedged between the toilet and the corner of the room. The boy had wrapped his thin blanket around him in an attempt to protect himself from the guards who came in and regularly broke his limbs. Either that or he was trying to hide from the world. Rape and isolation could make a child want to do that.

As much as Kuwabara didn't want to cause the boy any further stress, he needed to examine him. Ogata and Catalonia had come to him, alarmed. Something seemed to have gone wrong with their attempt to radically change his mood. As the leading expert on Bionics, it was Kuwabara's job to figure out just what that something was.

Kuwabara slowly made his way to the little blanket-wrapped figure. He gingerly bent over, just enough to lift the blanket away from where the boy's head was. "Hello there." Large gold eyes stared at Kuwabara, and the old scientist was left momentarily speechless. It had been a good eighteen years since he had last seen eyes that unique shade of gold. Kuwabara knew immediately which Bionic had mothered this child. "What's your name, boy?"

The boy looked around, then back at Kuwabara, confusion and fear clearly written on his face. "W-Waya Yoshitaka," he whispered, his voice raspy from disuse.

Kuwabara laughed slightly, causing Waya to jump and pull even farther away. "Your mother was Aya," he chuckled. "Waya Aya." Waya continued to stare up at Kuwabara.

The scientist stepped back, giving Waya some room. "Come on, Waya-kun. You need to go in for a check-up. And don't worry, nobody will hurt you this time."

Waya continued to look frightened, but he crept out from behind the toilet and walked in front of Kuwabara, still holding the blanket tightly around his shoulders. Kuwabara figured that the boy was obeying more because he was desperately in need of some form of human contact – Ogata and Catalonia, while bright kids, didn't understand that this boy was a child and needed to be able to talk to people and have someone or something he could trust. Kuwabara was probably the first person who actually spoke to Waya and listened to what he responded.

"Climb up here," Kuwabara said, patting a padded bench before picking up a clipboard with Waya's information. "You've been sick recently, throwing up, right?" Waya nodded, looking at his lap rather than the scientist. "How long?" Waya shrugged. "About three months?" Waya seemed to think about this before nodding once. "Do you remember what happened three months ago?"

Waya reacted to that, curling his legs up to his chest and burying his face against them, clinging to the blanket. Kuwabara looked disgusted. Three months ago, Ogata and Catalonia had given the order for Waya to be raped. Of course, they hadn't called it that. "Experiment 557 to evaluate effect of mood on regenerative ability." Kuwabara snorted and opened the door to the little room they were in, calling to a guard. "Bring me FCPR."

After the guard left, Kuwabara turned back to Waya, but didn't approach the boy. First, Waya needed to be calmed down, comforted. Then he could examine him. "Do you know Shindou Hikaru? He's about your age, talks to himself, has blond and black hair?" Waya's only response was to lift his head a little, his eyes barely visible over his knees. Kuwabara took this as an affirmative. "Hikaru's parents live here, Matsuo and Mitsuko."

The door opened and a woman in a wheelchair rolled in. "Kuwabara-sensei! How can I help you?"

Kuwabara gestured toward the bed. "This is Waya Yoshitaka – I believe he's a friend of your son's, Mitsuko. Waya-kun, this is Shindou Mitsuko."

Mitsuko gasped, one hand covering her mouth when she saw Waya. "Oh, you poor thing! What have those cruel scientists done to you?" She rolled over to Waya, gently pulling him off the bench and into her arms.

As Kuwabara had hoped, Waya didn't resist Mitsuko, letting her cuddle him. Perhaps it was her calming influence. There was something about her warm brown eyes and soft smile that made people relax. Perhaps it was merely the fact she was a female. If raped by men, a strange old doctor was probably the last person Waya wanted touching him. Or perhaps it was the fact that Mitsuko was a mother, and Waya a child. In any case, Waya was soon clinging to Mitsuko, his face buried in her shoulder, as she stroked his hair and whispered softly in his ear. His sobs were muffled, but Kuwabara could see the boy's shoulders shaking as Mitsuko rocked him.

When Waya eventually stilled in Mitsuko's arms, Kuwabara made to cross the room, but Mitsuko shook her head. "He fell asleep… you'll only scare him worse." She smiled at his dark head. "Hikaru would be about his age. I miss my little boy. But I have Aya's son to hold now."

"Those eyes are a dead giveaway, aren't they?" Kuwabara laughed. "Aya had the prettiest eyes. Even Kouyou agreed."

"But Kouyou-sensei also disapproved of meddling with our genes to merely change hair or eye color," Mitsuko pointed out. "Although some of them did turn out beautiful – Aya's eyes, or Kyo's red hair/violet eye mix – others were just odd. Hikaru's an example of that, with his two-tone hair."

Kuwabara shrugged. "We had to give you _some _sort of color, or you would have all just been bland albinos."

Mitsuko just smiled. "Then you scientists would probably make us wear labels, so you could identify us." Kuwabara laughed. "But anyway… what happened to Waya-kun?" She looked down at the boy in his arm. "Why did they call _you _in to test him? I thought you only worked in the Biodome."

"He's Aya's son, and he's sick. That alone should explain things." Kuwabara studied Waya's file. "It started about three months ago, according to Ogata and Catalonia-"

"Ogata and Catalonia are in charge of this child's well-being? No wonder he's traumatized!"

"Don't let them hear you say that," Kuwabara warned with another screechy laugh. "But you're right, they haven't done a very good job."

"What did they do?"

Kuwabara shook his head slightly. "Waya-kun was raped as part of an experiment."

"They didn't!"

"To see if a drastic change in his mood affected how quickly he could recover."

Mitsuko looked horrified as she hugged Waya closer, trying to protect the boy. After a moment, she gasped, staring at Kuwabara. "When I was carrying Hikaru, he had a uterus… could Waya…?"

"That's what I was thinking," Kuwabara said grimly. "I was going to run an ultrasound on him, see if there's a baby. It's the only thing I can think of that would make a regenerative Bionic show signs of an illness."

"He's just a baby himself… oh, he's waking up." Mitsuko looked down as Waya started to stir

* * *

Waya was no stranger to pain. He had been suffering nearly non-stop for eight years. Although the first five years of his life were hazy, Waya knew that the memory of his first day of school would be burned into his mind forever.

He didn't remember what he had actually _done_ at school that day. It wasn't important. It was what happened next that he'd never forget, even if he wanted to. He had climbed off the bus, feeling like he was such a grown-up now, and had run home, his green army-print backpack bouncing against his back. "Mommy, Daddy, I'm home!" he had called, as he ran inside. "Mommy? Daddy? I'm back! Back from school!" Waya had figured they were in their room, doing grown-up things. But he was a grown-up now! He made a beeline for their room, pausing in his rush only to open the heavy wooden door.

His father had been a very large man, even more so to a five-year-old Waya. He remembered freezing in the doorway, staring up, up, up, to where his father was holding a rope that had been tied to the ceiling fan. His gold eyes followed the rope down, to where it was wrapped around his mother's neck. "Mommy?" Her eyes were closed, her mouth a thin line. There was no trace of her usual smile and cheer on her face. "Mommy?"

Waya's father had frozen too, when Waya ran into the room. He started to move again at the same time Waya did, catching Waya up in one large arm as the child ran toward his mother. "Your mommy's tired. Leave her alone."

"She looks sick!" Waya squirmed in his father's grasp, trying to get down. "She looks hurt! Mommy! Mommy!" Waya's father shoved him into the master bedroom's large closet, locking it as the boy climbed back to his feet. Waya tugged at the handle and pounded on the door. "Let me out! Mommy! Mommy!"

By the end of the first day, the frantic pounding on the door had been replaced by muffled sobs and the occasional kick. Waya's father cracked the door open long enough to throw Waya a six-pack of bottled water, deflecting Waya's attempts to escape with his foot. By the end of the first week, the closet was quiet.

Waya blinked, shielding his eyes from the harsh light that filled the closet as his father opened the door. He was curled up in the back, one of his mother's dresses wrapped around him like a security blanket. His father's lip curled in a sneer as he took in the state of the closet. Waya had pulled all the clothes off the hangers and ransacked the shoe racks, trying to find another way out, a source of light, or something to eat. He had made a little nest of his mother's sweaters to sleep in, and his father's clothes served him as a bathroom. The six bottles of water were scattered around the floor, empty and dry.

"Here. Eat." Waya's father set a bowl on the ground near his feet.

Waya crept toward him, looking between the food and his father as he approached. When the man didn't move, Waya picked up the bowl and began to drink the soup his father had brought. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve when he was done, turning bright eyes up to his father. "Is Mommy still tired?" His voice was slightly raspy from the lack of fluids, but there was still a childish innocence blanketing Waya. He knew about death, but death didn't happen to his mommy. He knew about abuse, but his daddy wasn't abusive. That sort of thing didn't happen to him and his family. His daddy was just trying to keep him from bothering his mommy while she got better.

Waya watched as his father knelt down, reaching out to pat Waya's head. "Your mommy's still exhausted." He moved his hands down, rubbing Waya's shoulders. "But you're being a good boy, staying quiet and out of her way. A very good boy… what's this?" He lifted Waya's left arm, studying his wrist. "Yoshitaka, what's this on your arm?"

"Where?" Waya stared at his arm, trying to see what his daddy was talking about "What is it?" A hint of panic was starting to creep into his voice. "Is it bad? Daddy?"

"I can fix it, Yoshi. I can fix it… but I have to hurt it first. Will you let me make it better?"

Waya nodded frantically. He couldn't see anything wrong, but if his daddy said his arm was bad, then his arm _must _be bad. "Fix it, Daddy, please fix it, I don't wanna die!"

His father looked up at him, scowling slightly at the mention of death, and took Waya's skinny wrist in his own large hands. A bit of pressure and a sharp twist was all it took for Waya to wail and jerk his arm away, cradling a broken wrist against his chest. "Daddy!"

"I had to hurt it, Yoshitaka. I told you that. Now it can get better. Let me see it."

Waya sniffed, scrubbing tears from his eyes with his good arm while shakily extending his left arm back toward his daddy. "Is it better?" A terrible look fell over the older man's face as he felt Waya's now-unbroken wrist. Waya whimpered, the trust he had in his parent starting to fail with that expression. He carefully pulled his arm back, still feeling the pain from the injury, even though it was healed. "Daddy?"

His father rose to his feet and kicked Waya, knocking him back into the closet. Waya barely got to his feet again before the door slammed shut and the lock clicked back into place. "Daddy! No!"

Only two years later did Waya learn that it was not him who had been sick or hurting, but his father. A sort of warped Munchausen's syndrome by proxy disorder, he was told. His father would hurt him in an attempt to get attention, to one-up doctors, or to assume the role of a caring parent… but Waya had managed to thwart him by healing so fast. If his broken wrist healed before he even left the closet, if the food poisoning was gone less than ten minutes after eating, if the burns had healed and bruises faded before the candles and candlesticks had been put away, then Waya's father could not rush him to the hospital, could not get that attention from the doctors.

Over the last few months in the closet, however, Waya's injuries stopped healing. His father kept him supplied with just enough food and water to stay alive, but his body had run out of energy to mend what was left of it. Bruises lasted for weeks. Broken bones were twisted; his limbs appeared to have three times as many joints as a normal person.

By that point, however, Waya had stopped feeling the pain. Or rather, had stopped acknowledging it. Hurt was such a constant feeling that it was as normal as breathing to him. Hunger, thirst, and loneliness were the same. He no longer noticed, no longer cared.

Three days of constant eating, of being surrounded by people – doctors, nurses, and police – was exactly what his body needed to reenergize and mend itself, and Isumi's love and devotion proved invaluable to mending Waya's outlook on the world.

But now, in these labs, Waya's fragile trust had been shattered for a second time. Doctors, doctors who in Waya's mind existed to help and heal those in need, would take Waya aside and break his arms. They would poke and prod and send in strange men to touch him in ways that made him feel disgusting, made him feel unworthy of living. And when they weren't hurting him, they locked him in a small, hard room, all alone. Only too easily could Waya clutch the threadbare blanket around his shoulders and envision the dark closet and his years of isolation. Only too easily could he picture his father in the position of the doctors, existing only to hurt and ignore him. With no one to talk to, no way to count the days, Waya had simply shut out the world. The closet, these labs, there was no difference. The only thing Waya had left was a yearning for someone, anyone, to come and end his constant suffering.

He hadn't expected his savior to come in the form of an old man dressed like the doctors, or a younger woman in a wheelchair. When Kuwabara had first spoken to him, Waya had to take several minutes for it to register that the man was talking _to _him, not above him like Ogata and Catalonia did. Not only that, but he called Waya by his name and didn't try to touch him or hurt him.

And Mitsuko… Waya never considered his mother among those who lost his trust. His father, yes. Doctors, yes. Older men in general (from his experiences at the orphanage), yes. But never his mother. By extension, no mother had lost his trust yet. It was easy for him to climb into Mitsuko's lap while she encouraged him with gentle tugs, to cling to her when she wrapped her arms around him, and to release his pain in the form of muffled sobs as she whispered in his ear how wonderful he was, and how much she adored him.

He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until he yawned and opened his eyes, noting that the corner he usually tucked himself into had been replaced by a soft body. He jerked fully awake, almost falling out of Mitsuko's lap, but her strong arms kept him safe and her soft smile calmed his nerves. She laughed lightly as he let out a relieved sigh and snuggled close again, having craved a mother's hug ever since his first day of school.

Mitsuko cuddled him a little longer, but she eventually pulled back a little. "Waya-kun, Kuwabara-sensei would like to run some tests on you, to see why you're sick. I promise you, he will not hurt you, and he'll stop if you say you're feeling too uncomfortable, okay?"

Waya was tempted to say no right then and there, as he glanced over his shoulder at the monkey-like Kuwabara, but he looked back at Mitsuko. She ran her hand through his hair, looking hopeful. "Please, Waya-kun? I don't want you to have to suffer. I'm sure he can make you better." Waya bit his lip – those were along the lines of what his father used to tell him. But Mitsuko was a mother, and she _had _promised Kuwabara wouldn't hurt him. He took a deep breath and nodded quickly, as if to get it over with. Mitsuko beamed at him and hugged him, kissing his forehead. "Thank you, Waya-kun!"

Waya climbed onto the table like Mitsuko asked him to. She leaned forward, spreading the blanket he had brought with him over his legs and waist. "Kuwabara-sensei's going to need you to lift your shirt up-" Waya's eyes grew wide and he clamped his arms around his stomach, trying to make sure Kuwabara would do anything. Mitsuko rested one hand lightly on his arms. "He needs you to lift your shirt up so he can test your belly. You can keep this blanket wrapped around your waist. He won't touch you there." She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking about. Waya took another shaky breath, reaching out with one hand toward Mitsuko. The woman took Waya's hand in both of hers, squeezing and stroking it reassuringly. "It's okay, Waya-kun. You'll be okay. I promise. Kuwabara-sensei won't hurt you. I promise."

Waya knew his hands were trembling as Kuwabara moved to his side, pushing up the shirt. To his credit, the old doctor was careful not to disturb the blanket covering Waya's waist. "This will feel cold and wet," he said, beginning to smear something on Waya's stomach.

Waya bit his lip, turning his head to the side to look at Mitsuko. She reached up to stroke his hair. "You're doing great, Waya-kun." She squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "You're doing wonderfully. Just keep looking at me, you're doing just fine."

Kuwabara pulled out a small object and began running it over his stomach, but Waya did his best to ignore him and focus on Mitsuko. He squeezed her hand, his breathing quick and irregular. "Look at this." Kuwabara's command drew both their attentions away from each other. He was pointing to a screen where a small blobby shape could be seen.

"What is it?" Waya's voice was quiet and he reached out with his other hand to grab Mitsuko's. For some reason he couldn't explain, the image on the screen frightened him.

"It's… a baby…" Mitsuko looked down at Waya. "It's _your _baby."

Waya just shook his head. "No, no way. I can't have a baby. I'm a boy."

"You're not just a boy," Kuwabara said, still running the object in his hand over Waya's stomach. "You're a very special boy."

"Bionic?" Waya had heard that word used by Ogata and Catalonia, but he wasn't sure what it meant.

"Yes, Bionic. Half-Bionic." Kuwabara looked at him with one eye. "One thing it means, in your case, is that you can have babies, just like a girl."

Waya swallowed nervously. "But… I can't have a baby." He knew babies came from sex, but he didn't think he'd had sex. Sex was something to do with people he loved, like Isumi, and it was supposed to be great. The only thing he could think of was what that one man had done, a while ago… He shuddered violently at the memory.

Kuwabara set one hand on his chest to keep him still, and Mitsuko leaned forward to stroke his hair. "I'm so sorry, Waya-kun," she murmured. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to feel like this. No one should."

Waya shook his head furiously, screwing his eyes shut. "No, no, no, no! I'm not having a baby! I'm not!" He heard Kuwabara flick something, and a thumping sound, slightly like horses galloping, filled the small room.

"Your baby's heartbeat," Kuwabara said. "Your _son's _heartbeat."

Waya stilled, opening his eyes and listening to the unfamiliar sound. He freed one hand from Mitsuko's, placing it on his bare stomach, not even noticing the gel Kuwabara had placed on it. He had grown even thinner in the months he had lived at this place, but his stomach had started filling out again recently. It was nowhere near what he'd consider fat, but there was a definite bulge. "My son?" There was a tremor to his voice as he turned to look at the monitor. "I'm going to have a son?"

Beside him, Waya heard Mitsuko shake her head and murmur, "He's just a baby himself…"

Kuwabara, however, nodded. He pointed to the screen. "Here's his head… here, you can see his heart beating. And here – that's how I know it's a boy."

"Kuwabara." Waya, Kuwabara, and Mitsuko all turned to the door at the sound of the new voice. Ogata stood in the doorway. The light glinted off his glasses as he pushed them up his nose with one finger. "Kuwabara, what are you doing?"

"Testing the boy, just like you wanted me to," Kuwabara replied, shaking his head. He turned away and began to put away the ultrasound equipment. "You should go talk to your ophthalmologist, Ogata-kun, if you can't see properly."

Waya had pulled away from Kuwabara and yanked his shirt down, ignoring the gel. He clung to Mitsuko's arm, staring fearfully at Ogata. Mitsuko moved to shelter him from the younger doctor's view.

"That's not what I meant, old man. Why are you testing it with a Bionic in the room? And FCPR of all of them! You know it was among the rebels – do you _want _this Bionic to attempt to take your life?"

Kuwabara laughed, shaking his head again at Ogata. "I figure if I'm nice to him now, he'll remember and spare my life when he rebels." He peered up at Ogata. "After all, he's _human_. He'll remember shows of kindness."

"It's a _tool_, no more." Ogata spared Waya a quick glance before turning his full attention back to Kuwabara. Mitsuko took this chance to draw Waya into her lap, turning the back of her wheelchair to Ogata. "But did you figure out why it was malfunctioning?"

"Listen to yourself, Ogata-kun. Talking about a living, breathing, human being as a tool and malfunctioning." Kuwabara fixed a one-eyed stare at Ogata. "It really wasn't all that difficult to figure out that this little boy has become an expectant father as a result of your little "experiment.""

"A _father_? But that's impossible – no, the one second generation Bionic... that's _incredible_!"

"What's incredible?" Dorothy Catalonia appeared behind Ogata in the doorway. "Ah, Seiji, you found them."

"I wondered when you'd be showing up, Dorothy." Kuwabara folded his hands in his sleeves. "I was just telling Ogata-kun how the boy was pregnant… and so young too… Only fourteen, according to his chart…"

Dorothy tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Don't try the guilt game with me, _sensei_. I know perfectly well that _thing _isn't human… though the child might be." She tapped one finger against her chin. "What do you think, Seiji? It would be three-quarters human… majority rules?"

Ogata nodded. "Yes, the baby would be human."

Dorothy clapped her hands together. "Ah, but it's just a fetus right now! It's not officially human until the end of the second trimester – and it's only been three months! We can still test it, figure out just how much of the Bionic genealogy is being passed down… won't this be exciting?" She pushed past Ogata and walked to Mitsuko's side, where she grabbed Waya's arm and tried to pull him out of Mitsuko's arms. "Release it, FCPR."

"I'm sorry," Mitsuko whispered into Waya's ear before releasing him. She could not refuse a direct order from a scientist, not if she wanted to survive long enough to possibly see her son again.

Waya couldn't believe that Mitsuko had practically handed him over to Catalonia. He tried to cringe away from the scientist, but she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "Such a _good _Bionic," she praised Mitsuko. "Now let's get this thing back to its room."

"Wait." Kuwabara opened both eyes now. "For the best health of the baby and the Bionic, I recommend it is moved into the Biodome immediately. A cell is hardly suitable for an expectant father."

Dorothy waved her hand dismissively. "It's a chance we'll have to take. If the other Bionics were exposed to this half-breed, they might decide that another rebellion is in good order. We don't want to lose what few we have left. Come on, Seiji, let's go." Dorothy all but dragged Waya out of the room and back to his cell. He looked back once, seeing Mitsuko wheel herself into the hall and watch him be carted away, pressing one hand to her mouth, but then he was pulled around a corner and didn't see her again.

* * *

Hikaru sat cross-legged on one of the go salon chairs, slurping juice loudly from a glass as he watched Touya playing go with one of the regular customers, an older man who had known Touya's father. The three of them and Ichikawa were the last in the salon for the day. "You're such a dud, Touya."

"_Excuse me_?" Touya scowled up at Hikaru. "Like you know what you're talking about… oh, wait, that's right, you _do _know duds, being one yourself."

Hikaru stuck out his tongue at Touya. "'Snot what I meant, and you know it!"

Touya picked up a go stone and studied it, considering flinging it at Hikaru, but he decided it would be sacrilegious to the game and instead placed it on the goban with a loud _pa-chi!_

Hikaru snickered. "Look at you, trying to be all high and mighty and ignoring me. The Great Touya Akira, that's what they'll call you, all right!"

**Hikaru, you know, you could be a little nicer. Riling Touya up in the middle of a game isn't very sporting of you, even if you're not playing.**

_Oh, hush Sai. It's okay – I'm just trying to get him to finish the game faster. Watch._

Sure enough, Touya forced a resignation from his opponent in just three more hands and turned to glare at Hikaru. "_You're _cleaning up the stones!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Hikaru waved the other player away and began sorting the stones. Touya, despite what he had just said, began to help automatically. After the other player left and Ichikawa told them to behave while she ran out to buy dinner for the three of them, he spoke again. "Touya… you're not really special, are you?"

Touya looked up at Hikaru, clearly puzzled. "What are you talking about? My go is –"

Hikaru waved a hand, accidentally scattering a few stones on the floor. "Oops… but no, I'm not talking about your go." He crawled under a chair to pick up the stones. "I'm talking about your Bionicness."

"My Bionicness?"

Hikaru pointed at Sai. "Yeah, like how I can see and talk to Sai, and how he's solid to me. That's my Bionicness. But you can't see Sai, despite you being psychic. And you can't change into anything or walk through stuff, despite being morphable. The only thing you have going for you is you're pretty smart, and really good at go. But that's not always really useful." He crawled out from under the chair and dropped the last few white stones into the proper goke.

Touya fell silent, scooping up a handful of black stones and watching them pour back into his goke. "I can do something else…"

"You can? Really?" Hikaru watched him.

Touya nodded, biting his lip. "It's weird. A bit like radar. Father was teaching me… before he died."

"Oh." Hikaru shook his head. "Well, if your dad could do it, then it's not Bionicness."

"He couldn't do it. Mother could do a little of it, but I could do it better." Touya took a deep breath. "Except, when I do it, I can't… _see _anything. Or hear anything. Or feel anything, for that matter. So… I'm really defenseless." He glanced up at Hikaru through his black bangs. "Which is why I don't really do it. Especially not now, with people shooting at us."

"I can watch over you!" Hikaru sat across from Touya, grinning. "Sai can watch the door, and I can sit here and stare at you to make sure no one disturbs you! And then you can show me your Bionicness!"

Touya pushed some of his hair behind his ear, studying Hikaru, and then he nodded slowly. "Okay… I guess." He pulled his chair closer to the goban. "Ichikawa-san went out to get us dinner, right?" Hikaru nodded. "Okay, I'll find her, then." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and let it out through his mouth. His left hand was resting on the table, his thumb and index finger pressed against the lower corner of the goban. His right hand was in the goke. "Ichikawa-san," he breathed. "Five miles. Moving, four times." He took another deep breath, and after he let it out, his eyes snapped open, his entire body rigid.

Hikaru gasped – Touya's eyes were completely black. _Completely_. Even the whites of his eyes had gone black. Touya's right hand suddenly flashed out, slapping a black stone onto the goban before returning to the goke. Exactly sixty seconds later, his hand flashed out again, picking up the stone from the goban and moving it to a different spot. He did this twice more, each time his hand striking as swiftly as a serpent. After his hand returned to the goke following the fourth position of the stone, Touya went limp. His eyes closed and he slumped in his chair, his fingers slipping out of the goke. A moment later, he shook his head and straightened up. When he opened his eyes, they were his normal blue-green.

"_Wow._" Hikaru had no other words.

**That was... **Even Sai was speechless.

Touya twisted his hands together for a moment, slightly blushing under Hikaru's awe-struck expression. He pointed at the solitary stone on the goban. "So… that represents Ichikawa-san. The tengen is where I am, and it goes out five miles." He swept his finger around the edge of the board to show Hikaru the five-mile limit. "I did it moving, which means every sixty seconds – or sooner if I specify – I do another radar sweep thingy and update her position. I can do it stationary, and I can do lots of people – groups of people. I can look, for example, for all the go players in a five-mile radius, or all the people over fifty years old." He dropped his hand back into his lap and glanced up at Hikaru. "So… that's my Bionicness, I guess."

Hikaru shook his head. "And you never thought you were anything but completely human!"

Touya's blush deepened slightly and he looked at his hands. "No… Mother could do it too, a little, and I could do it… I just thought it was normal."

"Touya, you're positively crazy." But Hikaru was grinning as he said the words, leaning forward to look at the goban. "So, can you do bigger radiuses too?"

Touya nodded. "Yeah, I just have to specify. I can't do smaller radii than half a mile though… I can't do detail stuff."

"What about buildings, can you find buildings, or just people…"

Ichikawa found the two boys hunched over a goban when she returned, seemingly discussing a game, despite there only being one stone placed. She just shrugged, not understanding the mind of teenagers anymore.

* * *

"It's better than the rooftop." Tsutsui stood in the middle of a tiny apartment, looking around. The ceiling was water-stained, the walls smelled musty, and Tsutsui really didn't want to look too closely in any of the dark corners. But the ceiling covered the entire apartment and offered much more shelter than the open sky, and the walls kept the rain and wind outside, where it belonged.

Mitani glanced around and crossed over to the small window. He curled up on the wide sill and stared out at the dirty building across the street – such a _wonderful_ view. "We'll be able to see if the police come."

Tsutsui nodded, moving to one end of the big room where a kitchenette was – a sink, stove, small refrigerator, and a few cupboards and counters. A brief inspection revealed nothing moldy or rotten left by the apartment's former occupants.

"But it's so crappy." Mitani drew his knees up to his chest. "And it smells funny."

"It's all we can afford," Tsutsui replied. "We'll get used to the smell, and it really is better than nothing."

Living on the rooftops of Tokyo had offered the two boys a mobility that came in handy when trying to escape from the police, but the exposure to the elements and simple fact that Tsutsui was a horrible climber, even with Mitani's help, led them to seek shelter in a place with stairs. And a toilet. Tsutsui had put his job-hunting on hold to track down an affordable apartment. Although they actually could manage to get into a better-kept place, the landowner of the Lower Dells complex didn't ask questions. He didn't even raise an eyebrow when two very young teenagers approached him for an apartment. He merely gave them some papers to sign, and after money was exchanged, two keys.

The keys opened the door to a shabby, one-room, one-bath apartment. Tsutsui turned on the light in the bathroom and sighed in relief – the bathroom was cleaner than the kitchen. "We'll need to get some cleaning supplies," he said, returning to the main room. "Food, bedding, clothes…"

"Curtains or blinds, to block the view in. Soap. A dead-bolt." Mitani looked over at the door with its cheap lock. "Maybe a couple dead-bolts."

Tsutsui took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face. "We'll manage." He had never imagined living in a place as cheap as this, or paying for it with money from Mitani's prostitution, but they'd make do. And once they got Kaga out of the prison he was in, and he got a proper job and could get Mitani out of that man's bed, then maybe this place could become their home. In the meantime, he couldn't let Mitani see how helpless he was feeling, how pathetic to not be able to provide for the younger boy and keep him safe. He needed to be strong for Mitani – God knew Mitani had the worse lot at this time.

Mitani looked over at Tsutsui, offering him another forced smile in return. "Yeah. We'll get by." With a dead bolt on the door and the window covered by curtains, Mitani would be able to have a place to hide from the world, from Zama. They had a shower now, so he could try to scrub away the feeling of Zama's hands. And once Kaga came here, his presence would just fill this apartment and be a source of strength for Mitani to draw from. But until then, he'd keep smiling, keep being strong, so Tsutsui wouldn't see for sure just how much Zama was affecting him, so Tsutsui wouldn't feel so bad about what he was doing. Maybe… maybe if he smiled enough, if he forced enough cheer into his face and voice, he'd feel a little in his heart.

_

* * *

_

_Identified Bionics:_  
Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?  
Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR  
Hong Su-Yeong - HMQ?  
Ichikawa Harumi - FARS  
Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?  
Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPS  
Ko Yong-Ha - HML?  
Kurata Atsushi - HMP?  
Le Ping - C13HMCLR  
Mitani Yuuki - HMF?  
Saeki Kouji - HMMP?  
Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR  
Shindou Matsuo - MACP  
Shindou Mitsuko - FCPR  
Touya Akiko - FCMP  
Touya Akira - HMCMP  
Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?  
Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLR  
Waya Aya - FCLR  
Yang Hai - MCFL

As a note, someone said that most of the Bionics were morphable. That's actually not true – only Isumi, Saeki, and Akira so far have been identified as morphable. Most of the Ms in the above list are referring to the gender – M is male Bionic, HM is male half-Bionic, C#HM is clone of a male half-Bionic. Sorry if there was any confusion on that behalf.

Anyway, to my reviewers.

SGL – Thank you for your review. As bad as it sounds, I'm glad you're feeling sorry for Waya, Kaga, and Mitani – it means I'm doing my job correctly.

Ano-nime – Thank you for your review and follow-up email to make sure I didn't drop off the face of the planet.

Saki – Another chapter, just like you asked, and yet another in the works.

Justareviewer – One of the best? Really? And here I thought I was just writing a tortured and twisted figment of my imagination that no one would ever like. No detail about Tsutsui's job-huntingness in this chapter, but things will eventually get better for these two.

Legit – I passed your review on to Clees, and she was very happy about it (I'm assuming that's who else you meant when you said "you guys"). I'm glad you're enjoying the story, creepy and crazy well-written as it is.

Jade Loire – Waya's having a baby! Thank you for your email; it was nice talking with you.

Kari2500 – I love very long chapters too, and I love very long reviews even more. Thank you so much for your review – it's made me smile every time I read it. I even went back through my previous chapters of Bionic to see where this one falls in terms of length. It turns out that it's not insanely long, but it's not among the shortest either. I hope it's satisfying. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank you for reviewing _With His Luck_.

Crawler


	8. Interlude

Everyone… I'm really really sorry. I fell about a week ago, and cracked my right arm. I'm not supposed to twist it, so typing is a real pain in the arse. As such, Bionic's going to be put on delay until I get better. I'm really sorry about this. I wish more than anyone that my arm was better.

Until then, I leave you with this little interlude that has very little to do with Bionic… or anything, for that matter, since refuses to let me just leave a note saying "My arm's busted, be back later."

**_

* * *

_**

**_Interlude_**

**_

* * *

_**

Waya woke up with a stifled scream, jerking up and clutching his stomach. Beside him, Isumi groaned, shifting a little. "Waya…?"

Waya, trembling, ran his hands over his stomach. Still as flat as he remembered it. "I… I…"

Isumi sat up, wrapping an arm around Waya's waist, looking very molestable (in Waya's professional opinion), with his sleep-tousled hair and half-lidded eyes. "You okay?"

Waya turned, burying his face in Isumi's bare chest. "Oh God, it was horrible! Experiments! And Ogata! And I was _pregnant!_"

Isumi rubbed Waya's back, feeling the ridges of his spine. He ran a hand over his face and looked at the clock beside their shared bed. 2:17 AM. "Waya… come on, why don't we try to get back to sleep? We both have games in the Honinbo tournament tomorrow… it was just a dream. Come on…." He laid back down, pulling Waya with him. "It was just a dream."

"Just a dream," Waya repeated, letting Isumi pull him back into the bed. "A dream. Nothing more." He sighed, tucking his head under Isumi's chin and closing his eyes. "Sorry for waking you, Isumi. Night."

"Good night, Waya."

Not far away, but in a completely different universe, Waya curled up in his cell, a threadbare blanket around his body and a tiny smile on his lips as he dreamed about a place where he could sleep by Isumi's side and where Dorothy only existed in manga and anime.


	9. Future

Everyone, I am so terribly, horribly, very very sorry for making you wait MONTHS for this. SO sorry! But now, here's the next chapter to _Bionic_, an actual chapter this time, and not some odd little interlude that had nothing to do with anything. It's a bit short, but I'm working on writing more even right now as I type this. The next chapter should _not _take this long to come out.

But first, a mini-rant. Everyone tells me "Use Firefox Explorer! It's so much better than the dumb Microsoft one!"

Yeah, right. Then tell me why Firefox likes to shut down on me? Or why when one window decides to freeze up and demand I quit, ALL the windows are closed, even the ones still behaving? And why does Firefox freeze up more often than Internet Explorer? And why does Internet Explorer behave itself this whole time?

I don't know, but I don't see why Firefox is so much better. (Sorry about the rant, but Firefox just shut down a bunch of my windows again, as I attempted to log into my account to put this chapter up and as I attempted to see what reviews I had yet to respond to.)

If you look back to chapter 5 (Life, Part 1), you'll notice I'm using "It's finals week" as an excuse. Well... I'm pulling that one out again. I actually have another two weeks before finals, but these are the weeks where everything is due and professors are trying to squeeze in as much learning as possible. I am still writing Bionic, however, even during most of my classes (all of them, actually... heh... bad Crawler, study more!). I may not, however, have time to type it up and post another chapter until after Dec. 15th, the day of my last finals.

I promise, though, that I'll have another chapter up by Christmas. I swear it.

Enough of me rambling now, on with the part you've all been waiting for!

_Traits:_

C#: **C**lone, and then the number of the clone  
H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))  
F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale  
A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)  
C: **C**alculating (really really smart)  
F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)  
L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)  
M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)  
P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)  
Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)  
R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)  
S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

_**

* * *

**_

Bionic – Future

* * *

_They look like ducks. _Kurata watched Isumi moving around their dark home, attempting to tidy it up, with Le Ping trailing along behind him, always just two steps away, never more. _Isumi's the mommy duck, and Le Ping's the baby._

When Isumi and Ashiwara had returned one night with groceries and a miniature Waya, neither Kurata nor Saeki knew what to say. Neither of them had the heart to turn the little boy out either, especially not after seeing life in Isumi's dark eyes again.

Kurata found it interesting to watch Le Ping grow accustomed to them. At first, he would only cling to Isumi's shirt, occasionally making chirping noises. He'd peer out between his fingers, watching the other three with his hawk-like eyes. Slowly, oh so slowly, the boy began to detach himself from Isumi, hesitantly trying out their words on his tongue. It was during this time that they learned the boy's name, Le Ping. He had pressed one hand to his chest and declared, "Me Le Ping!" before hiding behind Isumi's long legs again.

Kurata watched as the two sat down, Isumi cross-legged on the cement floor, Le Ping scrambling into his lap. Time for another language lesson. Isumi opened up a worn book and began to read aloud, following the words with his finger so Le Ping could keep up. Kurata smiled, closing his eyes in a slow blink. When he opened them again, he found himself running through the streets of Tokyo.

The sudden change was a bit disorienting – but only a little. Kurata had grown used to this, his "intuition." Now he just relaxed and tried to pick up as many details as he could.

Saeki, Ashiwara, Isumi, and he were running past Li's Diner. Left at the ramen stand, followed by a right at the derelict park and another left in a block... Kurata mentally drew a map as his psyche was pulled along by the four. Where was Le Ping? How far into the future was this?

_There_. The future-Kurata stopped, crouching in an alley and gesturing at a twelve-foot-tall cement wall topped with barbed wire. _Go straight through. He's on the fifth floor, on the opposite side._

Isumi nodded, reaching out to take Ashiwara's hand. Ashiwara gave him a wane smile as he nodded back.

_Good luck._ Saeki squeezed Ashiwara's shoulder briefly before stepping away.

Kurata blinked again, and the scene had changed. Now he was in a small cell, dimly lit by the full moon and bright lights of the compound outside. There was a sniffling sound coming from a corner. Kurata turned, slowly, and saw a boy curled up in that corner, rocking back and forth, tears falling from glassy gold eyes. "Le Ping!" So that was what had happened to the boy! Le Ping didn't respond – he didn't know Kurata's psyche was present. No one ever did in these visions.

_Waya!_

Kurata turned at the whisper, watching Isumi and Ashiwara melt through the wall.

_Waya!_ Isumi released Ashiwara's hand and hurried toward the crying boy.

Kurata blinked again, and the sight of Le Ping curled up in Isumi's lap returned to him. He blinked a few more times, to make sure he had seen the whole vision, trying to sort it out in his mind.

"Kurata?" Ashiwara had come up beside him and now touched his shoulder lightly. "Are you all right? You look awfully pale... was it another vision?"

"Yeah." Kurata nodded once, finishing his mental reviewing of the scene.

"Was it a good vision?" Isumi spoke up now, pausing in his reading. Not all of Kurata's visions were good, and most weren't even all that useful (a glimpse of Shindou walking down the street didn't really help anyone).

"Waya was in it," Kurata said quietly.

Isumi's arms tightened around the child in his lap, making Le Ping squirm. "Are you sure it was Waya, and not Le Ping?" His voice was flat, strained, as he tried to force the words out without letting hope grow. Waya was supposed to be dead, but Kurata only saw what-might-be, not what-could-have-been. If he _had _seen Waya, that meant Waya _had _to be alive, right now.

Kurata nodded again, slowly. "He was in a dark cell, and then you and Ashiwara came through the wall, and you called his name and went to him."

"And then what?" Now Saeki had joined their conversation.

"And then it ended." Kurata shrugged. "I did see how to get to him, however."

Isumi set the book aside, looking determinedly at Kurata. "Tell me."

* * *

"Thank you very much for applying for this position. We will make our decision in about a week, and we will get back to you then."

"No, thank _you _for taking the time to interview me."

Tsutsui kept his bright smile on his face even as he walked out the doors of the office building. He knew, however, that he wouldn't get this job either. Something about the vapid blankness of the interviewer's smile and her wide-eyed "yes, of course I'm interested!" stare gave it away to the young teen.

His smile faded, however, when he couldn't find Mitani's red hair among the people lingering outside. Normally, the younger boy slept the days away, serving Zama and visiting Kaga during the nights. Today, however, Mitani had been awake and bored, so he decided to accompany Tsutsui on his job hunt. "Mitani? Mitani?" Tsutsui looked around, feeling panic welling up within him. Did the police come? Was Mitani attacked by some of the gangs that occasionally cropped up in this area? "_Mitani!_" Was he laying dead in some alley somewhere, his body hacked to pieces by a random wandering serial killer who liked to prey on young, flexible boys with red hair?

"Yo."

Or was Mitani standing right behind him, hands in his pockets, a strange expression on his face. "Mitani! There you are! Don't _do _that! Never again! When you say you're going to wait for me, _wait _for me! Don't scare me like that.." Tsutsui trailed off as he finally recognized Mitani's expression – it was joy. And excitement. And _life_. Of course, all of these were covered by Mitani's "I'm too cool to care" face, but very poorly. Mitani hadn't looked this happy since he began sleeping with Zama. "Mitani? What have you been doing?"

"Come here." Mitani pulled one hand out of his pocket to grab Tsutsui's arm and tug him down the street. "I found something..."

"A way to get Kaga out?" Tsutsui couldn't think of anything else that would make Mitani so excited.

Mitani paused for a moment, shaking his head slowly. "No, not yet... Just come on."

Tsutsui allowed Mitani to lead him through a crowd of people and up to a strange setup. Upon closer inspection, Tsutsui saw the contraption Mitani had found was a trapeze of sorts – a portable one.

"Jinx! _Jinx_!" Mitani was calling to someone, trying to get the attention of a young woman with curly brown hair who was dressed in a multi-colored leotard. "I came back!"

The woman's face split into a broad grin when she saw Mitani and heard what he was calling to her. She came running towards the pair, breaking into a series of handsprings that landed her just inches away from Tsutsui's nose. "Hellooo! You _must _be Tsutsui!" She grabbed Tsutsui's hand, pumping it enthusiastically. "Not much in the way of family resemblance, except for the height, but I'm hardly one to talk." She broke off in a fit of giggles, as she herself barely stood an inch taller than Tsutsui.

"_Oniisan_, this is Jinx. She's offering me a job."

Tsutsui was terribly confused by all of this, and Jinx's giggles weren't helping. "A job?" She didn't seem to be the type who liked to sleep with thirteen-year-old boys, but even if she were, Tsutsui would _not _let Mitani bring another person into his bed. Zama was bad enough.

Jinx nodded, reaching out to ruffle Mitani's hair. "This little bugger's such a show off! Showed us _up_, as a matter of fact!"

"Wha...?" Tsutsui stared at Mitani, begging for a rational explanation, one that Mitani was able to provide.

"Jinx works with the Tokyus circus. She's a trapeze artist. To advertise the circus, they set up this rig and are letting other people try it out."

"We make sure they're strapped in and have a nice pillow to land on," Jinx interrupted, trying to soothe away Tsutsui's worried expression.

"It looked fun," Mitani continued. "So I asked if I could try it. Jinx helped me into the harness and I did it – and now she wants to hire me."

"He _claims _he's never been on a trapeze before." Jinx rolled her eyes. "So I rig him up and let him go and the little monkey goes and pulls off a one-man version of our demo show we did not five minutes earlier, complete with the triple-twist ending!" Jinx put her hands on her hips, mock scowling as she leaned forward. "And _then _he tells us he can't accept any jobs without his big brother's permission and ran off."

"Job?" Tsutsui repeated, still confused.

"As a trapeze artist," Mitani supplied.

"But why?" Tsutsui shook his head. "Mi-Yuuki is just a kid." He figured, since Mitani was calling him oniisan, big brother, he might as well call him by his given name, to keep the story straight with Jinx. "Why would you—"

"Because he showed us up." Jinx ruffled Mitani's hair again (Tsutsui was surprised Mitani was allowing the touches). "And because we need him. See?" She gestured toward a poster announcing "The Seven Flying Marauders of the Tokyus, TONIGHT ONLY!" "Seven. We're currently down to six – Trouble had a bit of trouble, broke his arm—"

Tsutsui's face went white. "And you want Mit-Yuuki to replace him?"

Jinx laughed, shaking her head and making her curls bounce against her cheeks. "Our act is perfectly safe... pretty much. Trouble – oh, he'll hate me for telling you this – but he tripped and fell over his own feet, and _that's _how he broke his arm."

"Can I join?" Mitani turned his eyes back to Tsutsui. "I won't get hurt. You know I won't."

After Tsutsui had found out about Zama, he had made Mitani promise that before the younger boy took another job, he'd discuss it with Tsutsui. Tsutsui did _not _want another surprise like that one. He was still surprised, however, that Mitani was actually following through on the promise, asking him for permission, especially with how much Mitani obviously wanted this job. For once, the boy seemed to be excited about something, rather than just dully making his way through each day. It was almost as if Mitani had completely forgotten about Zama, or if Zama didn't even exist. Tsutsui couldn't refuse anything that made Mitani this alive. "You really want this?" Mitani nodded fervently. "And you want him?" Tsutsui frowned slightly at Jinx, not sure what to make of this girl.

"Of course we want him. It'd be a lot easier – not to mention cheaper – to just replace Trouble rather than working out a new routine and drawing up new posters..." Jinx shrugged. "We'll pay him, teach him up, get him a costume... but he'll have to work."

"I'll work! Tsutsui..."

Tsutsui pushed his glasses up his nose. "Okay. Mi-Yuuki, you can join, but you have to be the responsible one. Find out the hours, the pay, and make sure there are no conflicts with your other obligations."

Mitani nodded. "I will. Don't worry, Tsutsui."

"Who's worried?" Tsutsui watched as Jinx led Mitani off somewhere, to hammer out the details.

* * *

"Jinx wanted to know why you kept calling me Mi-Yuuki," Mitani informed Tsutsui later that night, over dinner.

"What did you tell her?"

"I said you were used to calling me Mitani-chan, because I was the baby of the family, but you must have figured that in public, it would be better to call me by my name rather than some cutesy nickname."

Tsutsui smiled a bit at that. "And who's in our family, then?"

"There's only three of us. I told Jinx that our parents were dead, but we lived with our older brother, Mitani Kaga. He's always busy though, working to provide for us, and that's one reason why I was eager for the job – we needed the money. You're the middle brother, Mitani Tsutsui, and if there was a job at the circus for you too, you'd like to hear about it."

Tsutsui nodded, pushing some rice around on his plate. "So, what are the hours?"

"I'll be working during the day, from 2:30 to 4:30, Monday through Saturday, noon to four on Sundays, and six to ten every night. The pay's not great, only ¥100 an hour, but that's because they're considering me a student, so it's really only pocket money. I didn't want to ask for anything more though."

"No point in drawing more attention to ourselves."

"Yeah."

"Speaking of drawing attention..." Tsutsui looked over the top of his glasses at Mitani. "How are you going to avoid being recognized if police ever come to the circus? Even if they come off-duty, with their families, all it would take is one who notices you..."

"Jinx showed me some sample costumes. They're really wild – and most of the Marauders have dyed their hair bright colors. _And _I'll be really high up." Mitani shrugged. "It shouldn't be a problem."

"Is it worth the risk?" Tsutsui asked quietly.

"It is." Mitani set his chopsticks down, staring at his plate. "When it... when I was on the trapeze, everything else fell away." His fingers twisted in his napkin, crushing it. "I could forget about Kaga being trapped in that place, about my past, about Zama..."

"Are you going to see him tonight? Kaga?"

"Yeah."

"Give him... tell him I miss him, that I'm still trying to get him out. And we _will _get him out, soon." Mitani had drawn up some rough plans of Kaga's prison, from his observations, and Tsutsui spent all his free time pouring over them, trying to come up with a plan to get Kaga out without getting any of them killed.

"Sure." Mitani rose, setting his dishes in the sink. "Tsutsui?"

"Mm?"

"Thanks."

"Anything to keep you sane." Tsutsui turned to watch Mitani pull on a dark sweatshirt, tucking his red hair into the hood. "Stay safe."

"You too." Mitani tugged the hood low over his eyes and slipped out the door.

_

* * *

Identified Bionics:_

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?  
Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR  
Hong Su-Yeong - HMQ?  
Ichikawa Harumi - FARS  
Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?  
Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPS  
Ko Yong-Ha - HML?  
Kurata Atsushi - HMP?  
Le Ping - C13HMCLR  
Mitani Kyo - MF?  
Mitani Yuuki - HMF?  
Saeki Kouji - HMMP?  
Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR  
Shindou Matsuo - MACP  
Shindou Mitsuko - FCPR  
Touya Akiko - FCMP  
Touya Akira - HMCMP  
Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?  
Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLR  
Waya Aya - FCLR  
Yang Hai - MCFL

So, yes, okay, I know responses to reviews are no longer allowed on but I figured I should review to those unsigned ones one last time. Just don't get me in trouble for it...

Everyone – thank you for understanding about my arm. It's all better now, and not even achy when the weather changes. Thank you all also for letting me know you hoped it got better soon, and sympathizing with my pain.

Saki, I hope you didn't mind the wait too much for this chapter. Waya's dad is messed up, but his mom... she had her own share of problems. And Akira's radar-thing... that was actually one of the first bits to come about from this story. My friend Clees and I were talking about what super-powers the HnG boys would have, and we decided that Akira would definitely get all scary with a goban.

Mitani actually cannot get pregnant. Readers may or may not have noticed that I briefly mentioned Mitani's father in the previous chapter. Mitsuko made a passing reference to Kyo, with the red hair and violet eyes – he passed his coloring onto his son, as Aya did with her gold eyes. Since Mitani's Bionic parent was male, he did not get the uterus gene. Sadly, Waya _did _get the uterus gene, with his Bionic mother, and that's why he's suffering.

Ano-nime, Isumi's coming for Waya! He won't leave him there forever! Hikaru and Akira are getting along, in their own way. As for the insei... I do have plans for them. Maybe. You probably won't see them for a long, _long _time, but I do have an idea that requires them to show up.

HnG actually isn't officially out here yet. Release date is Dec. 27th, I believe. I have, however, found fansubs and was able to watch them all before it was officially licensed. I do love the anime – I think I'm going to watch it again over my Christmas Break – and I'm going to try and reread the manga too. Fun stuff.

Justareviwer, Isumi had no idea Waya could become pregnant, he just didn't want to be a pedophile and sleep with a thirteen-year-old boy (sadly, Zama has no such restraints). He's waiting for Waya to grow up, and just enjoying spending time with him. Akira and Hikaru do seem to be getting along pretty well for now, but things won't be all fun and games with them forever.

**PLEASE SIGN YOUR REVIEWS**

I _love_ getting your feedback. Nothing pleases me more than to wake up and find another review alert waiting in my inbox. I also enjoy replying to you. It's so much fun to read what you think is going to happen and then drop hints about the future without giving anything away... I rub my hands and giggle evilly on my end of this cyber-connection (can't quite pull off an evil laugh). However, with saying "Don't reply to reviewers in your stories anymore, that's BAD!" I got very sad. So please, people, sign your review so I can continue to respond to you. Feel free to drop me an email as well (wallcrawler27ATHOTMAILDOTCOM) or an AIM/MSN message (FantismalSpider for AIM, my email address for MSN). Just say something about Bionic in the first line "I read Bionic" or something like that so that I know it's a real person and not a crazy spammer trying to get me to enlarge body parts I don't have. They have found me.

Finally, two final notes. One – I don't have a beta reader for this story. Any and all mistakes are mine. If you'd like to beta for me, however, just drop me a line and I'll be very very happy.

Two – Trouble, a friend of Jinx's, broke his arm by tripping over his own feet. That's a winkwink, nudgenudge thing... it's how I cracked mine. I like to say I tripped over the hose, except it was two feet away from me at the time. I'm such a klutz.

Crawler


	10. Escape

I promised you a chapter before Christmas, so I give you a chapter before Christmas!

I actually don't have all that much to say before this chapter, just an invitation.

If anyone's interested in a long-term Hikaru no Go role-play over Livejournal, come over to the Livejournal community thepathwewalk (link should be on my look-up, if you need it).

So far, only Touya Akira's been claimed (by me!) and... yeah. Touya's birthday is coming up, December 14th. Please don't make him be all alone when he turns 16!

Traits:

C#: **C**lone, and then the number of the clone  
H: **H**uman (indicates half-Bionic, as half-Bionics genetically have all traits of their parents (but may not show them all))  
F/M: **F**emale/**M**ale  
A: Connective (**A**ugmentation/**A**mplification – boosts strengths of others)  
C: **C**alculating (really really smart)  
F: **F**lexibility (agile and bendy)  
L: **L**inguistic (good with languages)  
M: **M**orphable (able to manipulate self/environment)  
P: **P**sychic (supernatural or mental abilities)  
Q: Speed (**Q**uick – 50 mph for pure Bionics)  
R: **R**egenerative (Fast healing)  
S: **S**trength (physical strength without bulky muscles)

_**

* * *

**_

Bionic – Escape

* * *

Getting into the compound was easy now, now that Mitani knew the way. There was a scraggly tree just close enough to the outer wall. If he climbed to the top, it was just a quick jump to the wall, then a flip to get over the barbed wire. If he flattened himself against the edge of the giant dome building, he could creep around without going too far into the bright lights that flooded the compound. There was one section of the dome that was pressed against another building and thus shadowed. This was what Mitani climbed, hopping over to the other building and climbing a drainpipe hand over hand to reach the roof. Once on top, it was a simple matter for him to duck and run through the maze of pipes, occasionally jumping over to another building. Finally, Mitani hooked his legs over a horizontal pipe and let himself hang down, peering through a barred window.

The compound had been the last place in this section of Tokyo that Mitani had looked for Kaga in. He had been a bit afraid of what security might be in place, no matter how logical it was to think Kaga was being held within. This was a high-profile government science facility, after all, it _had _to have some sort of defenses. However, to Mitani's delight, the only security measure he really had to worry about was the bright lights. As he had told Kaga already, the place was full of pipes and bars. Mitani would have enjoyed climbing around if he wasn't so worried about getting caught.

It had taken Mitani a week of searching the compound alone to find Kaga's cell. He still didn't know what was in about three-fourths of the place, including the large dome that dominated the site.

Now, however, hanging from his pipe, Mitani could make out several figures in Kaga's cell. Several men. They had Kaga on the ground, between them. Kaga's shirt was pushed up... he had a dazed expression on his face... one of the men had a taser (that would explain the expression and lack of a struggle on Kaga's part)... another was between Kaga's legs... he was... they were...

Mitani's eyes were wide as he watched, horrified, as the men gang-raped Kaga, beating the boy back into submission every time he started to stir. There was nothing he could do, however, no way to get inside and help Kaga. And even if he _did _find a way in, what could he do? What could _he _possibly do to a group of armed men, men who were able to subdue _Kaga_, the strongest person he knew? Mitani bit the side of his hand to stay quiet. There was no glass in the barred window. Kaga would be very upset if Mitani got caught by being noisy while he was being nosy... and Mitani didn't want to be subjected to this treatment any more than he wanted Kaga in there.

A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye caught Mitani's attention. He turned his head slightly, wondering if it was a guard on rounds other than the ones Mitani had memorized, and saw Isumi and Ashiwara, holding hands and sprinting toward one of the big cement prison buildings. Mitani winced, expecting them to crash into the wall with the speed they were going, but much to his surprise, the pair ran _through _the wall.

Mitani rubbed his eyes – he _couldn't _have just seen that. People don't run _through _walls, they run _into _them.

* * *

But Isumi and Ashiwara _had _run through the wall. They were following Kurata's instructions, or, rather, Isumi was. Ashiwara was just letting Isumi lead him. The younger knew more about "smooshing" through solids (Kurata's word) than Ashiwara did. Ashiwara was only there so Isumi could smoosh Waya out. 

_This way._ Ashiwara heard Isumi's words not through his ears, but through his body, through the subtle vibrations of the cement surrounding him. He felt a tug on his hand and began to walk, trusting Isumi to lead him through the cool press of stone around them. _We need to climb now._

_Climb? _Ashiwara felt Isumi tugging his hand upward, but he couldn't see how Isumi was managing to climb. All he could see was grey stone, stone which felt solid and heavy until he tried to move through it, which was when it would part around him as smoothly as water. _I can't!_

Isumi paused, giving Ashiwara's hand one last tug. _Lift your leg like climbing a stair, and then imagine the cement being solid underneath. Just keep thinking of it as solid, and it will support you._

_O-okay... _Ashiwara lifted his foot and closed his eyes as he shifted his weight, imagining the cement to be solid. To his surprise, his foot didn't sink through the cement as it had before. _Isumi! It didn't give! _No sooner had he reported his success to Isumi then the "step" gave way and Ashiwara fell forward. Isumi's grip on his hand kept him vaguely upright.

_Don't think about it giving, _Isumi said. _Just keep thinking, "I'm standing on a step, and there's another one above." That works best for me._

Ashiwara nodded, running the phrase through his mind, and began to climb. A couple times, he lost his concentration and dangled in the cement, held up only by Isumi's firm grip. The higher they climbed, however, the more confident Ashiwara became. By the fifth floor, Ashiwara was no longer falling.

_This is it, _Isumi said. _Waya should be on the other side of this wall._

Ashiwara squeezed Isumi's hand reassuringly. _I'm sure he is._

Isumi took a deep breath, somehow managing to not inhale stone, and stepped through the wall. Ashiwara silently followed.

"Waya!" Isumi released Ashiwara's hand crossed the cell, seeing the small figure curled up in a corner, trying to hide between the wall and toilet. "Waya!" Isumi dropped to his knees and reached out for the boy.

Waya whimpered and pulled away, ducking his head behind his knees and bringing his arms up protectively.

"Waya..." Isumi pulled his hands back, looking hurt. Ashiwara hung back, watching from a distance.

Waya began to rock back and forth, curled in the corner. His quiet sobs were the only sounds in the cell.

Isumi bit his lip, watching Waya suffering. He _knew _this was Waya, his Waya, the same way he had known Le Ping was not. He just didn't know how to help him. "Waya..." He reached out, hesitantly putting his hand on Waya's head, threading his fingers through filthy brown hair. "I love you." He could think of nothing better to say.

There probably wasn't anything better to say. Waya lifted his head at Isumi's quiet declaration, his gold eyes unfocused and lost. "I-Isumi-san?" He slowly began uncurling, reaching out for the older boy. "Isumi!" His voice was thin and desperate, his fingers clutching. He needed Isumi, needed him _now._

Isumi caught Waya's hands and drew him close, cradling him against this chest. "I'm here, Waya. I'm here." Waya fit nicely into his arms. Le Ping was too small. Waya, though, was the right size, even now, when he was scrawnier than ever (except for his stomach, which seemed abnormally distended).

"Isumi," Ashiwara stepped forward now, watching as Waya curled against Isumi. "We need to go-"

"No!" Waya shouted at Ashiwara's words, clinging to Isumi's shirt. "No, no, no! No! You can't leave me!"

"Waya! Waya, shh, it's okay!" Isumi hugged Waya, trying to muffle his cries. "We're not going to leave you. We're taking you with us."

"But now we really have to go." Ashiwara was listening at the door. "I think people are coming..."

"Come on." Isumi got to his feet, holding Waya in his arms. The boy was light, and he curled around Isumi, making it easier to hold him. "Ashiwara, hold my arm and _don't let go._"

"How do we get down?" Ashiwara gripped Isumi's elbow, following him to the wall.

"Just let yourself sink. Slowly." Isumi stepped into the cement. Waya made a squeak of surprise as the wall opened to welcome them in.

As Ashiwara followed, the cell door was flung open. "Shit! They're morphable!"

"Shoot them!"

Ashiwara felted the odd sensation of bullets rippling _through _his chest, without damaging it, much like how he was walking through the wall.

"No!" a woman screeched.

Ashiwara turned, seeing two blonds dressed in long white lab coats entering behind the guards. As the woman ran at him, his eyes met the icy blue of the man's. Then Isumi caught his foot around Ashiwara's leg and tugged him fully into the wall.

This time, smooshing felt different. The walls were vibrating around Ashiwara. It took him a moment to realize the motion was caused by Waya's whimpers, continuous and quiet.

_We're safe in here, _Isumi said, hugging Waya close. _Safer if we sink. They're not going to tear their building apart just for us._

_Are you sure? _Ashiwara asked. Isumi remained quiet.

_No. These walls do not offer much safe shelter for the Children._ A new voice had wrapped around them, deep and booming, like a hammer against an anvil. _But I shall help you find safety, outside of these walls._

Isumi had tensed at the new voice. He didn't know there was anyone else in the world capable of smooshing. _Who are you?_ Waya, in his arms, had stopped whimpering, but he trembled.

_I am MMPS of the Seventh Batch._ Isumi got the distinct feeling that the stranger, MMPS, had bowed. _I offer greetings to you, Children of the First Batch._

_Greetings to you too. _Ashiwara was the first to remember his manners. _May I ask _what _you are? _He couldn't see the new speaker, and it worried him. _And what is a Child of the First Batch?_

_I regret that we have no time to delve into the history of our kind. May it suffice for you to know that you are Bionic, as am I, and therefore we are Superior._ The capital S bounced against them, clearly tangible in the stone. _Now come. Allow me to lead you to the outside world, where you may find safety beside your companions._

_Why?_ Isumi asked. _Why help us? _So far, everyone the orphans had met who had shown interest in them were attempting to hurt or capture them. What made MMPS any different?

_Mitsuko, of the First Batch, instructed us to aid the Golden-Eyed Child of Aya of the First Batch in whatever ways we could. I myself had believed my own assistance would be dreadfully little, as I was confined to a solitary cell, deep within the bowels of the Biodome and lined in heavy lead, but yet it would seem I have been chosen by those who watch over us to be the assistant to the Children._

In Isumi's arms, Waya sat up a little more. Mitsuko – now there was a name he remembered! The kind woman in the wheelchair, Hikaru's mother. She _hadn't _left him completely alone, after all... she had sent this Bionic to help them. _Isumi-san... he's nice..._

_Are you sure?_ Ashiwara moved closer, now pressed against Isumi's back. He didn't know where the stranger was, and didn't want to be alone if they were attacked.

Waya nodded a bit, which Isumi felt against his chest, even if he couldn't see. _All right. MMPS... we will follow you._

_This way, then. Allow me to lead you to safety._ A cool hand closed around Isumi's wrist, the fingers like ice, the palm only slightly warmer. Waya leaned away from the cold but made no sound of protest as the hand, presumably MMPS', tugged Isumi gently, guiding him. _You will need to sink lower._

_We're on the ground already._

_Through the ground. If you show your faces out there now, they will shoot you. Through the ground, and up through the wall on the other side. That is where your companions lurk. So I have been told._

_Are you coming with us?_ Ashiwara was hurrying to keep up with them, to make sure his connection with Isumi wasn't broken. If he let go of Isumi, then he'd lose his ability to walk through walls. He'd be trapped here, if he wasn't killed immediately. And Waya too – Waya could only move through the wall so long as Ashiwara was touching Isumi. His life was in Ashiwara's hands as well.

_No. I will cause a distraction. Perhaps I can help the other Child be freed._

_Other Child?_

_There is another of your kind in this facility. I do not know which one, as I have yet to meet him, and likely will never receive that opportunity. I have only heard rumors, the whispers of the ghosts that can pass through my leaden chamber with no injury. Two Children were being held in this place. One Child I am helping to free. More still seem to live beyond the walls. Perhaps our freedom will soon be at hand._

_What? Ghosts?_

_No time to explain! Up, go up, you're out of these walls. My duty remains, I cannot yet leave this place. Go! I will bear the news of your safe departure back to my brethren. Perhaps we shall meet again, Child of Aya, Children._

_Isumi. I am Isumi. Waya is the Child of Aya, _or so Isumi assumed, _and Ashiwara is our friend._

_I am also known as Akito, Brother of Ryoko of the First Batch._ The sensation of being bowed to rippled around the three again. _Farewell, Isumi-sama, Waya-sama, and Ashiwara-sama. Live free. _The cement pulsed slightly as Akito moved past the three, retreating back into the compound. Ashiwara thought he saw Akito for a moment, with long grey hair and very familiar grey eyes, before the Bionic was gone.

_I-Isumi?_

_We climb now, I guess. Waya, you okay?_

Waya nodded again, readjusting his hold on Isumi's neck. _Just scared, _he whispered.

_We all are, _Ashiwara reassured him. _We all are._

* * *

When all the commotion started up, guards running around and bright lights switching on, Mitani had decided he needed to make a break for it. He couldn't help Kaga if he himself was trapped. He had made it to the rooftop before someone spotted him. "Look! Up there! It's them!" 

Mitani wasn't quite sure who the "them" was that everyone was shouting about, but he knew it wasn't him – he was very careful to not set anything off. It couldn't have been Ashiwara and Isumi either, because they hadn't been here running through walls. The idea was preposterous.

It didn't matter who "them" was though. Mitani was in a bit of trouble, being assumed to be them.

But only a bit.

As he had pointed out to Kaga earlier, the place was a giant jungle gym. Running, jumping, twisting... no one could catch him. Some tried to grab him by hand. They had fallen. Some had fallen very far. Others had tried to shoot at him. Several pipes were leaking now, or had hot air or gasses streaming out of them. Mitani himself was unharmed, aside from a slight headache that came from hanging upside for a long period of time.

Mitani knew he had to get across the wall if he wanted to survive. How he was going to reach it, however, he didn't know. There was an empty stretch of land between the buildings and the wall, no place for him to hide if he were shot at.

"Friends! Come, follow me, for I have cornered the escaping Children!'

A deep voice rang out over the throngs of guards, accompanied by shouts and cries of "Watch where you swing that!"

Mitani didn't even glance back to see what it was. It was a distraction. He'd get no better chance. He broke cover and ran as fast as he could toward the wall, leaping at it. He hissed as his fingers were caught on the barbed wire, his flip over the top resulting in torn skin and injured hands. But Mitani didn't have time to stop and nurse his wounds. He just curled his hands into fists and ran into the maze of streets and alleys that was Tokyo.

_

* * *

Identified Bionics: _

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?  
Fujiwara no Sai - MCLR  
Hong Su-Yeong - HMQ?  
Ichikawa Harumi - FARS  
Isumi Shinchirou - HMM?  
Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPS  
Ko Yong-Ha - HML?  
Kurata Atsushi - HMP?  
Le Ping - C13HMCLR  
Mitani Kyo - MF?  
Mitani Yuuki - HMF?  
Saeki Akito- MMPS  
Saeki Kouji - HMMPS  
Saeki Ryoko- FMPS  
Shindou Hikaru - MACCPPR  
Shindou Matsuo - MACP  
Shindou Mitsuko - FCPR  
Touya Akiko - FCMP  
Touya Akira - HMCMP  
Tsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?  
Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLR  
Waya Aya - FCLR  
Yang Hai - MCFL

Ashiwara Hiroyuki - HMA?Fujiwara no Sai - MCLRHong Su-Yeong - HMQ?Ichikawa Harumi - FARSIsumi Shinchirou - HMM?Kaga Tetsuo - HMCPSKo Yong-Ha - HML?Kurata Atsushi - HMP?Le Ping - C13HMCLRMitani Kyo - MF?Mitani Yuuki - HMF?Saeki Akito- MMPSSaeki Kouji - HMMPSSaeki Ryoko- FMPSShindou Hikaru - MACCPPRShindou Matsuo - MACPShindou Mitsuko - FCPRTouya Akiko - FCMPTouya Akira - HMCMPTsutsui Kimihiro - HMAC?Waya Yoshitaka - HMCLRWaya Aya - FCLRYang Hai - MCFL 

Snuck a bit more info in up there, about one of the kids and a parent... did you catch it without me needing to tell you?

I know, I know, no more responding to reviews. But I can't help it!

AKung – Hee... I made you review early:P No, really, thanks for responding to my rant. I'm glad you're following the story, even if you've been silent. But then again, I'm usually quiet about the stories I'm reading too, so... yeah. Heh.

Justareviewer – Waya's been freed! (and about time too, he tells me...)  
Mitani's been meant to be a trapeze artist since I began this story, and Jinx is thrown in as a very minor character. I'm actually loosely basing her on another Gundam Wing person – Catherine Bloom, a knife-thrower in a circus, but with a different name and with a _much _bubblier personality. She probably won't show up too much though.  
Thanks for the good luck on my finals... one down, three to go...

Crawler


	11. Update

Okay, everyone, faithful readers and new-time comers. Here's what's up with Bionic.

It's not.

Now, most of the time, when I write a huge, long, multi-part epic, I lose interest, drop the story, and never look back.

However, with Bionic, that is _not _the case.

No... right now, I'm just stuck.

You see, there's a scene that has to go right here, at this point in the story, before anything else happens. Trouble is, I can't seem to write it. I've tried, countless times. I have scraps here and there, saved on my computer, jotted into the margins of my notebooks... nothing seems to be working.

Until I get this scene written, the story can't go anywhere.

I can't get this scene written.

Therefore the story's not going anywhere.

However, there is one compromise I might be able to make.

I could _skip _the scene, and just summarize it for everyone, therefore allowing the story to move on past this block, and perhaps come back and write it if I ever manage to wrestle inspiration.

If that happens, I probably won't get another chapter up immediately, but there should be an update before the end of the month.

Will that be all right?

In other news – I have a Hikago roleplay: The Path We Walk, which is going great. We could always use more players, though! We have Akira, Hikaru, Waya, Isumi, Sai, Ogata, Le Ping, Akari, Mitani, and a temporary Kouyo and Kaga (those two are available if anyone wants to play them, even though they are currently being played). We accept roleplayers of all skill levels, so even if you've never played before, come check us out! community. livejournal. com/ thepathwewalk (youwill need to copy/paste and remove the spaces).

There is also a Bionic roleplay that I'm trying out. It's set in this world, but none of the Hikago boys are involved. That way, all the intricacies of their relationships don't have to be preserved. If you're interested in looking into this Bionic RP (which is currently not-active), then swing on over to community. livejournal. com/ neoorient

(I apologize PROFUSELY for no actual content here!)

Crawler


	12. Help?

It has been… nearly three years since I updated this. Ouch.

Here's the bad news: this isn't an update (please don't report me for not putting up a chapter!)

Here's the good news: I'm back into Hikaru no Go, reread this story and all my bits and pieces, and went, "Damn it, I wanna keep going!" So I'm going to revive this story.

Here's some more bad news: _I forgot how I wanted it to end._ I know I had an ending, because I have notes that refer obliquely to an ending, but… alas, no ending remains!

So here's a cry for help. I need someone to bounce ideas around with, to run with things, to show blurbs from future chapters. I just need one person, but they need to have either MSN Messenger or AIM. The ideal person would have read this fic, be really interested in Hikaru no Go, and be able to brainstorm with me.

If you are interested (if anyone is reading this still), you can get in touch with me via MSN Messenger (wallcrawler27 at hot mail. Com) or AIM (CainBaker).

Please—I've lost touch with almost all of my HnG friends, so I have no one to puzzle out a new ending with!

Thank you so much! I promise, within the next year, you will know if Isumi has rescued Waya.


End file.
